Harry Potter: Choices
by kb0
Summary: Harry is back at the Durleys after the battle at the DoM. After terrible nightmares every night, it finally occurs to him that many of the problems and thoughts he's having a difficult time with are due to choices he's made and how he chooses to look at his problems. Deciding to be a Gryffindor in his mind and face those problems directly, he starts to make different choices. H/G
1. Choices

**Title:** Harry Potter and Choices  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Summary:** Harry is back at the Durleys after the battle at the DoM. He's been there a whole week and he has had terrible nightmares every night. It finally occurs to him that many of the problems and thoughts he's having a difficult time with are due to choices he's made, and more importantly how he chooses to look at his problems. Harry decides to be a Gryffindor in his mind and face those problems directly, making different choices and approaching life differently than he has in the past. Along the way, he finds that he and Ginny Weasley share a very special power. {post-OotP and Alt-HBP, H/G }  
**Disclaimer:** The HP-universe is owned by JKR. Anything that looks like it belongs to her does. The plot of this story and other original material is mine, the rest is obviously hers.  
**(A/N:** (2012) This was my very first fanfic, originally written in early 2006 when I was more idealistic than I am now. It came after reading about a dozen stories and finding myself asking "Why isn't there a story like…" and then deciding to write one. I've been hooked on writing since - which is really hilarious to me because I hated "Creative Writing" back in high school (I now think it was because they forced topics and lengths on us). Anyway, this is version 1.1, which has some blatant errors fixed (typos, grammar, and the occasional logic error). My original and less experienced style has been left as is; this is not rewrite to bring it up to my current standards {that would be too much work}, just an edited version. I've also expanded some scenes slightly. Any plot devices that were introduced in books 6 and 7 after this was originally written will continue to be ignored.

Also, to those who are wondering, the last chapter of Accidental Bond is in the hands of my beta, who was caught up in a hurricane. Hopefully, I'll have that back from him soon. In the meantime, I'll start publishing this. Because I'm only editing, I hope to post 2 chapters a week.)

**Version:** 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

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**Harry Potter and Choices**

**Chapter 1: Choices**

Harry awoke panting and in a sweat. He didn't need his glasses to know that he had woken up early as the night sky had yet to begin to lighten. It had been yet another nightmare with him in the Department of Mysteries, though this time it was all his friends who were falling into the veil after Sirius. Ron and Hermione went hand in hand as soon as Sirius had disappeared. Neville courteously stood back and waved Luna through before following in himself. Finally Ginny trooped in too, but not before waving good-bye to him. It seemed like there had also been a laugh in the background, but that part was a bit hazy as he was struggling to gain full consciousness.

It had been like this every night for the week he'd been home from Hogwarts. Usually it was something from the Department of Mysteries. Twice it had been the graveyard scene from the end of his fourth year. Last night it had started off in the Chamber of Secrets for some reason, then changed into him trying to save Ginny in the spinning room of the Department of Mysteries before ending at the veil.

As he lay there trying to get over the nightmare, he realised his breathing wasn't slowing down and there was a cramping pain in his chest. He had to calm down. Grasping for any calming thought, his mind grabbed flying. He imagined he was on his broomstick, that should have been in his trunk, soaring peacefully and enjoying the wind whipping through his hair. Slowly he got a grip on himself and almost five minutes later his body felt nearly normal, if he ignored his T-Shirt and pyjama bottoms sticking to him from his sweat.

Like a bomb dropping, he realised he was near his breaking point. He couldn't go on like this; either he was going to go mental, or else Voldemort was going to take over his mind. Neither outcome was welcome.

Attempting what little Occlumency he could do, he tried to push his emotions, and especially his fear, aside. While he wasn't sure it was enough to really help, it was the best he could do. Then he pulled his problems to the front of his mind one at a time trying to analyse them. Part of the problem was there were so many of them. From all the things that had happened last year under the toad Umbridge, to his reactions to those events, how he'd acted around his friends, his scar almost always hurting in some way, and not to mention all the things Dumbledore had said, including the Prophecy; it was a problem in itself as to where to start.

Deep down he knew he'd been lucky so far and that he was wasn't ready to face Voldemort, as his last confrontation had proved. If it was kill or be killed, the latter seemed more likely; he knew he needed training. Well that was one thing he could do something about, he could seek training.

From his huge mental list, he pulled the next thing out that bothered him the most: his actions around his friends. In trying to be honest with himself, he decided he really had been a great prat and he knew they deserved better than that. They had done a lot for him, and though it was hard to admit, he knew he shouldn't have treated them that way. But that stuff had made him so angry at times. Then it dawned on him, not everyone around him did let things get to them. While he felt like he'd had it the worst, he realised he wasn't the only one with problems. Could it be that he'd let himself get so angry and that was changeable? If that was true, could he choose to not let that happen? That deserved some thought.

While he didn't need his glasses, he put them on anyway as he sat up in bed and leaned back against his headboard. Pulling his knees up and wrapping his arms around them, he lost himself in thought. What if…

By the time the sun was starting to peek over the horizon, Harry had decided he had to grow up and get his act together. He needed to think things through, plan them out, and stop being so emotionally driven. There were several things he needed to do first, starting with gathering some more information. That was the thing that irked him the most about Dumbledore, his withholding information that would have been very helpful in avoiding some of his trials.

He wished he could just Apparate out and go talk to a few people and take care of a few things, but he knew he didn't have the skill, that was assuming the wards on the house would let him. Then he remembered someone who had done just that, Dobby!

And in popped the little house-elf. "The Great Harry Potter calls for Dobby? I is so glad to be of service to the bestest wizard ever." Harry stared at him for a moment wondering how Dobby could have known he was thinking about him, and decided he must have spoken the elf's name out loud without meaning to. Still, did that mean Dobby had a connection to Harry?

A plan was forming in Harry's mind. "Ah yes Dobby. I would, uh, like to hire you. Can I do that?"

"Hire me? You don't need to hire me. I will gladly help the Great Harry Potter!"

"But you're a free elf now Dobby." Harry was curious about how Dobby saw himself.

"Ah, well…" Dobby wrung his hands and looked at the floor for a brief moment before turning his large eyes up at Harry. "I suppose I am free, but I rather would work for you, Harry Potter. Hogwarts is boring when everyone is gone."

Harry didn't really know what to say to that, but he did recognise he needed help, and Dobby could do a lot of what he needed. "So, would you like to work for me for the next month or so while I'm here?" Harry hoped he'd be out in less than month, which would be around the time of his birthday, but he knew it could be until the week before school started.

"Oh yes, I'd love to work for you, Master Harry Potter Sir!" the little elf squeaked.

How do you hire an elf? What did you pay them? "OK, Dobby, how about five Galleons for the summer, though I probably won't need help after I leave here. Will that be OK?"

"Harry Potter is more generous than Headmaster! It will be a pleasure serving you, Master."

"Uh, Dobby, please don't call me Master; call me Harry. I'm not a master and you're not a slave, I've only hired you."

"OK, Harry Potter Sir."

Harry sighed and considered that was probably going to be the best he could get at this time.

"What does Harry need Dobby to do? I see cleaning, and laundry to be done, what else?"

"Dobby, I'm really not so concerned about cleaning. What I really need is some errands run, can you do that for me?"

"Yes, Harry Sir. That is important duty of house elves."

"Right. And Dobby, this all has to remain secret. No one is to know I've hired you, and you can't be seen here in the house. Can you do that?" Harry didn't think it would be a problem but he had to ask.

"Yes, Harry Sir. Dobby can be very secret."

Now for the hard one, "Dobby, can you also do magic here for me without getting me into trouble with the underage magic restriction?"

"Of course, Sir!"

"What?! How come you didn't do that three years ago when you got me into trouble?"

"Begging your pardon, Harry Sir, but Dobby didn't want to keep Harry Potter out of trouble. He wanted Harry Potter to be safe at home." Dobby began to tug on and twist his ears.

Harry gave an exasperated sigh. "Dobby, please stop punishing yourself." To his surprise the elf did stop immediately, though he still wore his guilty look. "What's done is done, but since you can do it without getting me into trouble, will you please put an _Imperturbable_ charm on this room? I want what happens in here not to be heard out there, but make it so I can hear if someone out there calls to me."

With a snap of his fingers, Dobby looked at him and said, "Done. What else does Harry Sir need?"

"Well, there will be times that I'll need food. Can you fetch me some?"

"Yes Harry Sir. I can get it from Hogwarts kitchens."

"Good. I won't need every meal, just some for when I don't get enough here. Ah, Dobby? Where will you stay? Can you always hear me call you when you're at Hogwarts?"

"Yes I can, it's house-elf magic, Sir. But Sir, it would be better if I was here. What if I stay in your closet? I can make it very comfortable."

Harry didn't really care, as long as it worked out. "OK Dobby, that's fine." There was one last possible problem, but he didn't know if he wanted to tackle it. He consoled himself with the thought that it would probably never happen. "Dobby, there's one last thing I'd like to ask if you can do for me?"

"Yes Sir, you must ask." The house-elf was certainly eager to please.

"Dobby, I'm going to make one exception to the _Don't be seen_ command and it's very important that you understand." Dobby nodded. "If I yell _Dobby emergency_ I want you to come out no matter who's around, even if it's my Muggle relatives."

"You be wanting me to protect you, Harry Sir?"

Dobby was smarter than he looked, and Harry mentally chided himself not think less of him again just because he was a house-elf. "Yes, Dobby. I don't think it will happen, but since I'm not supposed to use magic outside of school, I thought I would make sure that I'd be safe. You know how you protected me from Lucius Malfoy."

"Yes Sir, I can do that."

"Great, now remember, it's all a secret unless there is an emergency."

"Yes, Harry Potter Sir." The elf looked very pleased.

"OK Dobby, the closet is yours to rearrange and do whatever you need to be comfortable. I'm going to take a shower and get dressed." Looking at his clothes, which were really old cast-offs from Dudley, Harry had another idea. "Say Dobby, can you change the size of clothes, either by shrinking them or by tailoring them?"

"Oh yes, House Elves can do all kinds of things with clothes, Sir."

A large smile crossed Harry's face. "Then Dobby, the first task I'd like you to do today is to take all my clothes that came from my over-grown cousin, and make them smaller so they fit me. Here, I'll pile them up for you so you know which ones they are." A couple of minutes later, Dobby was working on the pile and Harry left for his shower.

By the time Harry returned Dobby was done with half the pile, which wasn't so much Harry noticed now as he counted them. Aunt Petunia never did care what he looked like or if he had to wear the same things over and over. As Harry dressed in worn but clothes that fit for the first time, he noticed that Dobby was tailoring them and not magically shrinking them, although the needle was sewing by itself very quickly. He was using scissors and needles that Harry didn't own and only the elf knew where they came from.

As Harry was starting to enjoy his new circumstances and marvelling at how much better something as little as clothes that fit could make him feel, he heard Uncle Vernon shouting from downstairs for Harry to get up and come down for his chores, if he wanted any dinner tonight. At that, Dobby looked at Harry in outrage, that anyone would deny Harry food. Harry smiled at the elf and told him calmly, "Don't worry Dobby, that's why I asked you about food; though I'll probably get dinner anyway."

Harry heard his name being shouted again so he hollered "Coming!" then realised the charm on the room prevented that from being heard, so he opened his door and shouted "Coming!" again. Closing the door, he turned back to Dobby for a last order. "Dobby, one other thing. When you finish with the clothes, please go to Diagon Alley and get an owl-order catalog from each store that has one. I think I need to get a few things."

"Yes, Harry Sir."

"Remember Dobby, no one is to know who it's all for." Dobby nodded his head vigorously. Smiling, Harry bid him good-bye for the day and wished him well in fixing up the closet as he left his room to run downstairs before he got into more trouble with Uncle Vernon.

Harry had his usual small breakfast of a few pieces of toast before starting to mow the garden. He sort of liked mowing the garden. It was pleasant smelling the freshly cut grass and monotonous enough that he could think about other things while he did it. The only problem with that was that sometimes he came up with an idea he wanted to remember for later. Usually he could, but it would have been nice to record it, like the list of stuff he thought he wanted to buy. Taking a short break for some water, he nicked a pen and a sheet of paper from a drawer when Aunt Petunia was in the other room to start his shopping lists.

He barely managed to get all of his chores done and get cleaned up by the time the Dursleys were finishing dinner. There were only a few bites of their casserole left, but Harry didn't get more than a sour look when he took it. Trying to avoid problems, he ate that quickly and without complaining so he could leave and have a peaceful evening, but Aunt Petunia wasn't having any of that and made him wash all the dishes. It was getting late by the time he made it upstairs to be alone, but when he arrived, he found Dobby had dinner ready and waiting as well as a large stack of catalogues.

During his second dinner, Harry went through the catalogues and divided them into three stacks. The ones for things like women's clothing went into a _not needed_ stack. There was an _interesting but not needed_ stack that contained catalogues from places like _Quality Quidditch Supplies_; he'd check those out later. And the most important stack he labelled _must check out_ and contained catalogues for things like books and camping supplies. His dinner being finished, he sat down at what passed for a desk with the last stack, his pen, and some paper. He quickly made a list for each store with items he wanted and their price.

It was late in the night when he finished, but he liked what he'd done. He was taking charge of his life in a new way. It was basic, it was mundane, but it was also absolutely essential. Still, this exercise pointed out another problem in his life. He had no one he really trusted to give him advice, well, no adult. Hermione would be really useful on this project, but he didn't want to share it with her yet.

There on his nightstand were several letters he'd gotten from her, and one from Ron. They had the obvious how are you doing questions, but Hermione went beyond that to you'll be all right, grieve over Sirius, and go on with life. Intellectually, Harry acknowledged she was probably right, but he didn't want to deal with her on that subject right now. Fortunately, she had now left for a vacation with her parents so the owls from her would be less frequent. Ron's letter was pretty bare, but that was OK. Ron knew Harry needed space and was giving it to him. However good a friend Ron was, Harry knew he needed help from someone who had lived life for a while.

Silently tapping the end of the pen on his chin, he considered the question very carefully. He needed information very badly, so that meant someone who was connected to the Order, yet independent. As much as he would like Mr Weasley to be his advisor, and probably guardian, that would involve Mrs Weasley's and her mothering. If the truth were known, he thought that was nice most of the time as he'd never had that growing up, but he didn't want her protectiveness. Someone like Sirius was whom he needed. That caused some dark thoughts, which he tried not to dwell on. He needed a Marauder type person, he needed someone like Moony. Yes, that was the answer.

He was getting quite tired by now, but decided he wanted to see Moony as soon as he could, so he grabbed some parchment and wrote a note to him asking him to come over the first evening he was available to discuss a big problem. Fortunately Hedwig was awake, so he tied the note to her leg and told her to see that Lupin got it first thing in the morning; and to hunt while she was out. Hedwig rubbed his hand with her head in affection and took off.

Harry stumbled into bed and fell into a deep sleep. If he had a nightmare that night, he didn't remember the next morning.

The next evening after another exhausting day doing chores, though this time he had made notes of good ideas while he was working in the back garden, he started going through his _interesting_ catalogues. The Quidditch one sporting the new Firebolt II really caught his eye. While he was checking out its specs, he heard a disturbance from downstairs in the form of Uncle Vernon shouting. Uncle Vernon normally didn't shout unless it concerned him. As that thought hit him, he dropped the catalogue and raced for the stairs.

When he got to the bottom of the stairs, he saw a very red-faced Uncle Vernon shouting at calm and almost amused looking Remus Lupin. Upon his arrival, Lupin looked over and saw him and smiled. "Ah, there he is." Then turning back to Vernon Dursley he cheekily said, "You know, you really should do something about that temper of yours. I wouldn't want to have to turn you into a toad so you'll behave yourself." With that, he left a sputtering Vernon and walked over to join Harry.

"Hi Harry. Would your room be a good place for us to talk?"

"Um, yeah sure, come on," Harry said a little uncertainly as he guided his old professor up. When they got into Harry's room, which was not showing a house-elf, Harry waved his former professor to his desk chair while he took the bed. "So what got Uncle Vernon wound up?"

Lupin laughed. "Not much let me tell you. I just introduced myself and asked to see you. I sort of had to push my way through the door as he was about to slam it. That might have gotten him going." A mischievous smile crossed Lupin's face. "Of course it also might have been when I told him that if I didn't get to see you I'd come back in my werewolf form and take care of him." The two of them laughed as they both knew Lupin would never purposefully attack anyone in his werewolf form. "So how you doing Harry?"

"Mostly OK." Harry cheerful mood deflated as he answered. He knew some questions would get asked he really didn't want to answer, but he also knew he'd have to answer at least some of them if he was to get any help. "I'm doing better every day, but some, uh, thoughts are still troublesome."

Lupin nodded. "I know Harry, I miss him too."

Harry felt tears coming to his eyes, but he did his best to get them under control. He didn't want to cry in front of his former professor. "Professor Lupin?"

"Call me Moony or Remus. I'm not a professor anymore and can't go back."

With a small brief smile, Harry tried again. "Moony, how long does it take before it doesn't hurt so bad?"

Lupin looked at the young man with much sympathy and laid a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder. "It depends, Harry. It depends on you, and it's something you'll just have to work through. Of course in some ways, you'll never be over him because you'll always carry a part of him with you. Eventually it'll stop hurting and you can enjoy the good memories. As hard as it is, hang in there and live life; he'll become a part of you in a new way given time." Harry nodded and hoped he could deal with the pain until then. Lupin paused to give Harry a moment to recover. "What else is bothering you Harry?"

Now that the time had come, Harry wasn't sure he could ask; but somewhere in the back of his mind came the words, _I am a Gryffindor_. Taking a deep breath, he looked at the old werewolf and asked, "Moony, who's my guardian now … now that I don't have Sirius?"

Remus was taken aback by the question. It was truly one he had not considered Harry asking. "Well, Harry, in the Muggle world it is obviously still your relatives; but it's a little more complicated in the Wizarding World."

"How so?"

"Well," Lupin paused to gather his thoughts. "In theory it should have been Sirius as he was your Godfather and Dumbledore treated it that way, even though the Ministry didn't because he was in Azkaban. I understand the official Ministry position to be that the Dursleys are your guardians. Family ties are very important in the Wizarding World so the Ministry would defer to them even if they are Muggles, at least until you're seventeen. However, from a practical standpoint, Dumbledore is your guardian and I believe he has temporary legal guardianship too. Why do you ask?"

"I, uh," Harry stumbled over the words; he was going to have to get them out fast. _I am a Gryffindor_. "I was wanting you to be my guardian Moony!" There, he'd done it.

For the second time that night, Remus was surprised. Thinking about it, he supposed he shouldn't have been, but he was. "Harry," Remus's smile was very large. "I'm honoured more than I can tell you that you would want that, but I'm afraid I have to disappoint you." Harry looked stricken. "As much as I would like to do this for you, the Ministry does not allow werewolves to be guardians or adopt children."

"That's not fair!" Harry all but shouted. He was losing control and knew he needed to bring it back in line. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. Lupin stayed silent and let Harry work through it. "That's not fair," Harry said in an almost normal voice. "There's nothing wrong with you. You're one of the most decent people I know."

The werewolf gave the young man a sympathetic smile. "Thank you Harry, that warms my heart. Nevertheless, that is the law. If I may ask, why don't you want Dumbledore to be your guardian?"

It was all Harry could do not to snap at his friend. Again he paused and took deep breaths until he could control himself. Lupin found this very interesting, not only Harry's anger, but also that he was starting to control it. Remus was wondering what had happened in the last week, or maybe even two.

"I just want someone else Moony. Someone I can talk to if I need to. Someone who is going to treat me decently." Harry was struggling to be calm, but he was managing.

Remus considered this, he thought about the various discussions at meetings of the Order of the Phoenix, which Harry wouldn't have heard, and he tried to read between the lines. Seeing a young man … and suddenly Lupin realised it was more than a title. It was becoming real and he thought he could see the root issue. "You want someone who will treat you not like a student or a boy, but like the adult you're becoming, don't you?"

Harry had never thought about it quite that way, but … "Err, yes."

"Hmm, I can see where you're coming from then; and you're right, Dumbledore is not the best choice for you."

"Moony, I respect him, and I've never met anyone smarter, but he's also hurt me, several times. I just need it to be someone else." Harry managed to keep his voice even, but it had been hard.

"Then we'll have to pick someone else. So what are your qualifications for this perfect guardian?"

That made Harry snort, but he started thinking out loud. "I need someone who's independent and can tell me things I need to hear, good and bad. Someone I can comfortably talk to. Someone I can trust. A person who can help me train." Lupin was nodding and "uh hmm'ing" at the list. All of a sudden, Harry brightened and Remus looked at him.

"Who did you have in mind Harry, for I can tell you figured something out."

"Moony, can there be a Godmother for a guardian?"

"Sure, who did you have in mind, Molly?"

Harry made a face but managed not to roll his eyes. "No, someone with pink hair!"

Moony stared at him for a moment then burst out laughing, "Yeah, Tonks would be able to help you train." Then he started to wonder if maybe Harry chose her because he had a crush on her. "Any special reasons to pick her Harry?"

"She's an Auror so, yeah, she can help me train. She's old enough to be able to give me real advice, but not too old. She's funny, and yet I think she'll take me seriously when I need her to. And maybe most importantly, I trust her." Harry seemed pleased with himself, but he also looked a bit mischievous to Lupin as he added, "And well, Tonks is just cool!"

Remus looked at him and nodded while managing to keep the amusement off his face as he asked, "You know Harry, she can look like the girl of your dreams, or even all of them. Does that matter?"

Harry looked at him for a moment with a lost expression on his face, then Remus saw it change into something like horror while Harry started sputtering, "Ah, no, uh, Moony! That's gross!"

Remus laughed and put a friendly hand on the boy's shoulder, "Just testing. How about if I ask her to come see you and talk to you about this?" Harry agreed.

After a little more fun talk, Remus got up to leave. "Are you OK here Harry? I've heard they've never treated like they should have," he asked with real concern.

"I'm OK Moony. It's not my favourite place to be, but I'll be alright for a little longer. Though, the sooner you can spring me the better," Harry said with a grin.

Remus squeezed his shoulder then left. Harry decided that had gone pretty well, other than the one shocking part. Picking up the Quidditch catalogue, he laid back down on his bed to enjoy his evening.


	2. Fairy Godmother

**Version:** 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

(A/N: Some have asked why Harry would turn to Moony, as Moony hasn't always been there for Harry. Please don't forget that Moony is the last close friend of his parents, and therefore a tie to them. Turning to Moony is an emotional response not a logical response.)

**Chapter 2: Fairy Godmother**

He had been back to the graveyard again last night. Harry wondered whether it was just his mind or if Voldemort was influencing him. As he was putting on clothes that now fit, he considered that it could be both, but the only way to find out was to get rid of Voldemort, and that wasn't going to be happening soon. So he went downstairs to get what breakfast he could and see what chores Uncle Vernon would dream up for today. His one bright spot for the summer so far had been that Dudley had gotten a summer job at a cinema, so he was gone a lot for either work or else just hanging out there with his friends.

It wasn't until two evenings after Remus's visit that anything unusual happened, other than the fact that Harry was eating well at the Dursleys for the first time in his life, thanks to Dobby.

At a little before five on a Wednesday, Harry was setting the table for dinner later on when the doorbell rang. Uncle Vernon wasn't home yet, so Aunt Petunia answered it. There was woman in the doorway that looked like she was in her fifties, Harry guessed, with a clipboard in her hand.

"Are you Petunia Dursley?" the stranger asked.

"Yes, may I help you?" Petunia said a little stiffly.

"My name is Cynthia Drury, and I'm from Social Services. I need to see Harry Potter. One of your neighbors thinks he is in danger and I'm here to make sure he isn't." The woman gave a disappointed look, as if she had already made up her mind that the charges were true.

Petunia Dursley was beside herself. This was not something they ever wanted to have happen, to be scrutinized like this, much less to have a neighbor report it. She wondered if she could just deny Harry even existed; but to her misfortune, she heard a voice behind her.

"I'm Harry Potter…"

Petunia thought she was going to faint from embarrassment. The social services worker just pushed past her and walked in and shook hands with Harry.

"Mr Potter, I'm glad to see you're not as bad off as I was led to believe, but I still must investigate. Hmm," she said as she looked around. "At least the house is generally clean. Let me see your bedroom young man, I've heard they lock you in there. Plus we can talk in private." Harry wasn't sure what to make of her. She was firm but not unfriendly. Sort of like a younger McGonagall Harry decided.

"Uh, OK, this way." He led the two of them went up the stairs. Petunia was left leaning against the doorframe lest she fall down.

When they reached his room, the woman all but shrieked, "It's true, they do lock you in your room!" while fingering the many locks on his door. Harry heard a whimper come from the bottom of the stairs.

The woman strode into the room and looked expectantly at Harry to join her, so he did. Standing in the middle of the room, Harry saw her reach into her long sleeve and pull out a wand and wave it at the door so it closed; he almost fell over in shock. Then he heard her mutter and wave it over herself and the drab paisley dress became camo fatigues and a black T-Shirt. Now he did fall back on his bed as the face changed to a familiar one and sprouted her trademark bubble gum pink hair. "Tonks?!"

"Wotcher, Harry!"

Not being able to take it any longer, he flopped back on the bed and roared with laughter.

"Fooled you too, huh?" Tonks was being her cheeky self when he recovered.

Harry sat up on his bed and offered his desk chair to her. "Oh yeah, but why did you do it? You could have just walked in like Moony did."

"Yeah I could have, but this will put the fear of God, or maybe the government, in them and maybe they'll treat you a little better." Harry shrugged at that. "And besides, this gives me great cover for anyone watching the house and whoever they talk to, and I can come back for follow-up visits to make sure they haven't taken out any anger on you," she said with a caring smile.

Harry nodded at her. "We'll see…"

"Now Harry, what's this crazy idea you have about me being a Godmother? Do I look like a mum?" She managed a serious look despite her present appearance.

Harry smiled and looked down for a moment and managed to contain his blush. Looking up at her he said, "I think you can do it. Besides it's not the pink hair or anything else on the outside that counts, it's the you on the inside. And the fact that I feel like I can trust you." He was quite serious now.

Tonks got a thoughtful look on her face at that. "Trust doesn't come easily for you does it, Harry?"

"No, at least not lately." He turned a bit morose at that thought.

"Thank you, Harry. Your trust means a lot to me. Remus and I talked quite a bit about this last night," her expression softened at the mention of Remus' name, "and while it seems like it could work, I guess I'd just like to hear it from you. I would think the Weasleys would be better, or perhaps others. So why me?"

Harry did his best to repeat what he'd told Moony and ended with, "And I love the Weasleys. I think it would have been great to have been raised by them; but they're not what I need. Tonks, I've got a task in front of me that I can't seem to get out of." He didn't want to mention the Prophecy right now so he left it at that. "So if I'm going to do it, I've got to get ready. I need training. I need someone who can help me understand things. Someone who can let me be me. Does that make sense?"

Her admiration of the young man, and Remus was right about that, grew. From somewhere inside of her came a new feeling for Tonks: motherly love. She scooted up on her chair and put both of her hands on his shoulders. "Harry, I'll do my absolute best to make this happen - to become your guardian and to be a good Godmother." There was such a look of happiness on Harry's face she couldn't help but pull him into a hug.

"Now then," she said as she let him go, "I think this can be done. As Remus mentioned, family ties are important in the Wizarding world. Since Sirius was your official Godfather, and I'm related to him, I should have a pretty strong claim. The fact that you want me to be so helps as well. Speaking of which, grab your quill and write me a note about that so I can present it as evidence." When Harry had done so, she took it and blew on it until she was sure the ink was dry and stuck it in a pocket.

"Right! There are a number of things we need to talk about, but they can wait until later." She crooked an eyebrow at him. "Unless there's anything else that you need to talk about before I leave?"

Harry thought about that for a moment and shook his head. There were all kinds of things they could talk about, but he wanted to wait until he was sure this was going to happen. He still didn't want to share private thoughts with just anyone, and although it would be just a piece of paper in many ways, it was an important piece of paper tying her to him, and until that time, "No, they can wait."

"Very well, I'll leave now. I'll let you know when something happens." As Tonks stood up, a few thoughts clicked into place as she considered what he had said and the look on his face. "Harry, this may sound strange to you, but you do need to talk to someone about what's going on inside you." Harry's head shot up and looked very intensely at her. She knew she'd struck a nerve and needed to be careful. "I'm not saying it needs to happen now or even next week, but you do need to work out what's happened to you and how you feel about it - soon. It can be with me, your friends at school, or if you want someone totally neutral, I'll set something up with one of the mind healers that work with the Auror Department. Everyone approaches problems differently, but the common fact is that keeping hurt bottled up inside you will make you worse, and hurt those around you that you want to hurt the least." Harry dropped his head and studied a hole on his faded jeans. "Does that make sense, Harry?"

He picked at a loose thread then slowly nodded. "It will be hard."

Tonks squatted down so she was closer to eye-level with him. "Yes it will be, most things like this are; but it will help you in the long run, and I want you to be around for a very long time."

Harry looked up from his jeans into her light blue eyes, while wondering if that was her real eye color. "Thanks," he whispered fiercely, "I think I needed that." As difficult as this was, it gave him a good feeling that he'd chosen well with Tonks.

After squeezing his shoulder to end the moment, she stood up and waved her wand over herself to resume the role of the social services worker. "Ugh! Did you know there really is a person like this? How boring!" That made Harry laugh, and then she was off.

Standing in his doorway, he could barely hear her talking to his Aunt. "How he's survived I'll never know, but you're not out of the woods yet, Mrs Dursley. I'll be back to make sure he's all right and no harm has come to him. Yes, we'll be watching your family verrry closely."

Harry closed his door and wondered how this would play out. If his aunt and uncle did nothing and just left him alone, he thought he'd be the happiest, but who could really foretell the future?

* * *

The next couple of days went by fairly normally for Harry, though the Dursleys did feed him a little better, which disappointed Dobby. The nightmares were still coming, but with a little bit less intensity. He wasn't sure what to attribute that to, as he still did his Occlumency in the same way - with difficulty - but he was grateful anyway.

Friday evening a small gray owl brought him a short note:

_Harry,_

_Inspection tomorrow morning at 9am. Be ready for some fun._

_Your Fairy Godmother_

That made Harry smile. He wanted to believe that meant she had worked everything out to be his guardian, but he didn't want to get his hopes up. He'd been back at Privet Drive for two weeks now. Some fun would be good.

* * *

At nine the next morning Harry was working in the front garden and doing his best to look like he was working while avoiding getting dirty. He had his lists in his pocket for reference if he needed them and of course his wand that was in his waistband but under his T-shirt.

Glancing around to keep an eye out for Tonks, or any danger that might spring up, he saw a small black car pull into the driveway. His curiosity got the better of him so he stopped what little work he was doing and watched Miss Drury get out and walk up to him. "Are you ready, Mr Potter?"

Taking that as a cue to keep in character, he replied, "Yes, ma'am; though I suppose my Aunt and Uncle should be informed."

Drury/Tonks smiled at him. "And so we shall, come along." They walked up to the front door. Though it was open, the woman still rang the doorbell.

Uncle Vernon answered and it was obvious he knew who she was even though he had not met her. Harry could tell his uncle wanted to tell her where to go, but she was from the government so that left him at a slight loss, which Tonks took advantage of.

"Mr Dursley, I'm Cynthia Drury from Social Services." Her outstretched hand was ignored, as that was Vernon Dursley's way to insult her. "As you have ignored this child's basic needs, the government will step in as necessary. Mr Potter will accompany me to our warehouse where I shall give him some proper clothes." Vernon was starting to sputter at her implications. "And finally Mr Dursley, because of the way you do not watch out for this boy, I will be by every day for the next few weeks to make sure he is taken care of. If he is not, I shall bring the full force of the law upon you, so I suggest you keep a low profile and be a decent human being for once. Good day!" Tonks had built to a furious ending; it was all Harry could do to keep a straight face. "Come, Mr Potter." She led him to the car.

Once they were inside the car, "So Harry, how did I do? Do you think they'll be a bit nicer now? And by the way, it's safe in here; you can say anything you want."

Harry chuckled slightly. "Maybe. They have been feeding me a little better since your first visit; but other than that, it's about the same. So if you're going to be seeing me every day for a few weeks, is that when I'll get out of here?"

Tonks pulled out of the driveway and guided the car down the street towards her first stop. "That's the plan. I don't have an exact date, but it'll probably be around August 1st, or that's my guess. We've recently made The Burrow unplottable, which should help safety somewhat. You can stay there and spend time with your friends until it's time to leave for the Hogwarts Express. Besides Ron and Ginny being there, Hermione will be arriving about the same time you do."

"Thanks! That will be so great." He really did feel good about this, well mostly. He also knew he'd get the third degree from his friends, especially Hermione, about some things, but by actively trying to avoid bad feelings, the good appeared to outweigh the bad. That evaluation caused him to consider one of his major concerns. "Uh, Tonks, any word on being my guardian?"

"Several words actually." Harry raised his right eyebrow in question. Her face quickly grew warts and her nose became long and pointed, and in a crackly voice she exclaimed, "I've got you now my pretty!" before she cackled in laughter. Harry snorted because his laughter had escaped from him so quickly. "I've always loved that movie," she said in a normal voice and her face changed back to the matronly Miss Drury. "I sent the owl to you last night as soon as I had the signed paperwork."

"Yes!" Harry pumped his right arm in triumph.

"I should tell you a few things though my boy." Harry's face fell as he wondered what the bad news was. Glancing at his face while she drove, Tonks tried to quickly cover herself. "No, no, Harry, nothing bad, but you do need to know what I said." Harry tried to look happier, but he didn't succeed very well. He was still expecting hassles from either the Ministry or Dumbledore.

"I played up the family ties to Sirius very heavily and that went very well. Dumbledore raised some questions about where you'd be staying, about you staying in school, and so forth, and I pointed out to him and the judges that nothing in that area of your life would be changing. You'd still be at Hogwarts, same friends, still back at Privet Drive during the summers to keep up relations with your Muggle relatives, and so forth."

"Judges?"

"Yes, Harry, or three members of the Wizengamot if you want to be picky. It was essentially a hearing to decide who had custody over you."

"I didn't have to be there?"

"Because you're still a minor, no. But that's why I wanted the note from you, so you'd have some input even so, and that note was useful. Stating your age and that you had finished your OWLs with only two more years left at school was a good thing, that was a stroke of luck."

"That's good, but why do I feel like bad news is coming?"

Tonks' smile faded, "Because I had to misrepresent you slightly." Harry looked hard at her but kept silent. "I had to portray you as you were last year, or more actually an exaggerated version of you last year. I told them you were a very unhappy boy, and that you looked at most authority figures with disdain. So the fact that I had family ties, was someone you liked, and an Auror to help with your safety, allowed me to win the case. So I'm really sorry Harry, but then again, that's the way you were a month ago, and how everyone, but Remus and I, thinks of you at this moment. Does that make you angry at me?"

He considered that carefully before answering. Amusingly, that consideration was somewhat ironic, because a month ago, he probably would have flown off the handle and berated her for what she did, something that had been helpful to him. "I, uh, I'm not sure I'm happy about it as I don't really want to appear that way to everyone, but I'm not angry if that helped you win the case. I guess I'll just need to show everyone that I have changed, or at least want to change."

"You really have changed you know. Though I've only been around you for a short while this summer, I can tell. Remus also noticed and liked the new you."

"And who or what is the new me Tonks?"

"You're someone I want to be friends with Harry, and someone I think being a Godmother to will be enjoyable. You may not believe me on this, but what little I got to see of you in action at the Department of Mysteries last month, how you six students took on twelve Death Eaters and basically fought them to a draw is quite amazing. You are an equal to many adult wizards now, and will become a very powerful wizard in the future. If I can help you get there, I will, because I want you to stay alive and enjoy life."

"I don't feel like a powerful wizard, but I do want to become one, I need to become one." That got Harry thinking, and before he could think too much and chicken out, he asked her. "Do you know why I need to be? Do you know the Prophecy?"

"No I don't, but it's not hard to guess, or at least guess the main point."

"Do you want to know what it says?"

"You know?!" Tonks was shocked. She had to pay careful attention to driving, and she was wondering if she needed to pull over so she didn't crash. In fact, that seemed like a good idea if this conversation was going to go where she thought it was.

"Do you want to know? Because I know it…"

Now Tonks was shocked, and she quickly found a car park to pull over into. "Just a second, Harry, I don't think I want to be driving while you tell me this." When she found a parking space, she pulled in but did not turn the car engine off in case she had to get away quickly. "All right, Harry," she turned to face him so he'd have her undivided attention. She also wanted to watch him to see his body language.

He'd thought about it so much it was easy to recite, so he did. Tonks just sat there stunned to finally hear it. When she got her voice back, she told him, "Well, for once the Daily Prophet is right."

"Huh?"

"The Daily Prophet, haven't you been reading it lately?"

"No," said Harry. "All they print is lies, or at least they did whenever I read it last year."

"You'd be right last year. Um, most of this year too, now that I think about it, but they are correct in calling you the _Chosen One_." Harry sighed and shook his head in disbelief. "Do you know what the _power that he knows not_ is, Harry?"

"No," he told her and looked down dejectedly. "Dumbledore seems to think it has something to do with love, but I can't imagine what it would be. I just don't see love as a weapon."

"There's a song called _Love Hurts_ I think, and enough hurt can equal death, of a sort." She was joking with him, but he didn't bite. Turning around to drive again, she turned more serious. "So Harry, you _are_ planning to restart the DA as a club this year aren't you?"

"I don't see why. We only did it because Umbridge wouldn't teach us anything."

"You're not looking at the big picture, Harry." He looked over at her as she continued on. "Here, let's see if this will help you. Let's say that you and your girlfriend are walking thru Hogsmeade on a weekend visit. You do have a girlfriend, right?"

"Err, no, not really," he replied with a slight blush.

"What? A good looking young man like you doesn't have a girlfriend?"

"Who would have me? Though I hate to admit it, you did describe me pretty well awhile ago."

"If I was five to ten years younger I'd be interested," she joked with him, and he blushed again. "Hmm, all right, got any candidates?" she said with a smile.

He thought about that. Cho was out; he couldn't take any more of her, though he still admitted she was good looking. Parvati, whom he had taken to the Yule ball in his fourth year was pretty decent. Lavender Brown was always worth looking at when she walked by, though he thought she might be a bit flighty for him. And at the last second, he considered Ginny Weasley. A bit feisty at times, but he did like her mane of red hair, and he'd noticed on the train a few weeks ago that she had really started looking grown up. "Yeah, I can think of a few that might do."

"I thought so," she said with a large grin. "All right so you're walking thru Hogsmeade with your cutie when fifty Death Eaters Apparate in surrounding you two. Now, how many bad wands are there?"

"That's easy, fifty."

"Right. Oh sorry, Voldemort is there too, so fifty-one. Now how many good wands are there?"

"Um, well, our two. There's always some teachers there. Maybe a few Order members, and various citizens. I don't know fifty or sixty?" he guessed.

"I would disagree. Yes, there will be the two of you, plus a few teachers, and a few more Order members - maybe twenty-five total. The rest of the wands are just trying to run away and not get hurt. So you've got two to one odds against you just in Death Eaters, and Voldemort is there too, but behind all the Death Eaters. Think about that for a minute, then run the scenario forward in time and tell me what's going to happen."

She glanced at him while she was driving, watching him think for a minute, and when the scowling face looked up at her, she asked him again, "So what do you think about restarting the DA club at school this year?"

"You know Tonks, if I have time, I think restarting the DA would be a good thing. It'd be really nice to have a number of extra wands able to watch my back," he said with a cheeky grin.

She teased him with, "Good idea, I'm glad you thought of it". They both laughed as they joked with each other. Changing the subject, she asked him, "Now what classes did you take last year, or at least what did you take OWLs for and how do you think you did?"

"Defense obviously, and I'd be surprised if I didn't get an _O_; Professor Tofty was impressed with my corporeal Patronus."

"I am too Harry. Most Aurors don't learn how to do that until they get to Auror School. Charms?"

"Yes, I think I did pretty well in that. An _E_ for sure, maybe an _O_ if I got lucky."

"Good, and Transfiguration?"

"Definitely an _E_; I doubt an _O_ though," Harry admitted.

"Alright, those three are going to be your core classes. Work very hard on those Harry; and to make sure you do, I'll be giving you extra work in them all." Harry groaned. "Tut-Tut Harry; you must do well in those areas to be able to defeat Voldemort. You said you watched Dumbledore fight Voldemort in the Department of Mysteries, what skills did he use?"

Harry thought about all the stunning and blocking, the fountain statues moving around, the column of water, the conjuring. "Um, right. Damn, he did use all three areas heavily."

"What else Harry?"

"Astronomy, Divination, and History didn't go so well, especially as I passed out during the History OWL from a Voldemort attack."

"Don't worry about them Harry. Of those three subjects, only History of Magic can be useful to you for your fight, and that's only to help you plan, but I don't care if you take them or not for your NEWTs." Harry smiled in joy. "But don't think you're going to get totally away from it though. I'd like you to do some independent study for History and take the NEWT anyway. If you need sleep so bad that doing so in Binns' class is the only way you can get it, then you have other problems we need to take care of."

Harry wasn't so happy now and it showed by the slight petulance in his voice. "If you say so."

A little laugh came from Tonks. "Don't worry Harry, it's not so bad with a good teacher, or at least a good book and I can get you that. Magical Creatures?"

"Yes, I took that one. I think I did pretty good in it too; I'm guessing an _E_."

"I know Hagrid will be disappointed," she told him, "but you're skiving off that one too. I have plans for that time block. How did you do in Herbology?"

"Pretty well I think. I definitely passed and probably got an _E_, though I'm not so sure."

"I'll get you a tutor if I need to, but you'll continue that one. There is useful information in there, especially when dealing with potion ingredients. Speaking of which, how did that go?"

"Considering how little Snape taught us, surprisingly well. I'm pretty sure I got an _E_, but I know I really need an _O_ to get into Snape's NEWT Potions class, and I need Potions if I'm to get into Auror School."

"You'll need to continue with that class too. Sorry, since I know how much you dislike Snape, but Potions can be very useful, not like your three core classes, but useful in a supporting way and that can't be ignored."

"But what if I don't get an _O_?" Harry's concern came through in his voice.

"Don't worry. You'll make it in." Harry looked dubious. "Hey, I don't know your scores, but I have heard that only three people made an Outstanding on their potion's OWL. That has forced Dumbledore to force Snape to take people who made an Exceeds too. So buy the book and ingredients when you go shopping for school supplies. Understand?"

"Yes, Tonks." Harry wasn't sure if he was pleased or not. He knew he needed a Potions NEWT to get into Auror School, but he hated Snape only a little less than Voldemort. The fact that Snape was part of the Order didn't change his prejudice at all.

"Good, that will give you five classes, plus you'll have several independent study classes. I'll handle some, others I'll have guest teachers for, and the rest will be to pick up extra study material for your NEWTs, like History, and I'll have you start Runes." Harry looked at her like she had three eyes. "Yes Harry, it's another one of those useful support things. Don't worry! There are ways to learn the academic stuff quickly. If I have my way, you'll be taking your Runes OWL and NEWT at Christmas break, and your NEWTs for Defense, Charms, Transfiguration, and History at the end of this year."

Harry all but choked when he heard that. "What?! You can't be serious?"

"Nope, I'm Tonks." Harry didn't laugh at the joke, that was still a bit too painful. Seeing the look in his eyes, she apologized. "I'm sorry Harry; it just sort of popped out. It was an old standing joke with Sirius, Remus, and myself." Harry only nodded. Taking a very audible deep breath and a sigh to try to clear the air, she tried to get back on track. "Actually," she used a gentle voice to try to help him, "I am quite serious, Harry. You can do it if you apply yourself; I know you're a smart person. By getting those out of the way, you can concentrate fully on advanced Defense next year, not that you won't this year too."

"Alright, if you say so." Harry didn't sound normal, but Tonks figured it was best to ignore it and go on.

About that time, Tonks turned the car into a big car park and stopped the car. That got Harry's attention. "Where are we anyway, and what are we doing here?" His curiosity was getting the better of him and was distracting him from his temporary depression.

"One of the biggest stores in the area, and we are going on a shopping spree for new clothes and anything else you need." Harry's face lit up at hearing that. "Think of it as making up for about ten years of missed Christmas presents; but first, we need to fix something." Pulling out her wand, she lightly tapped Harry on the forehead, then on the top of the head. "Hmm, not too bad. It should do considering where we are. Pull down the visor and look in the mirror and tell me what you think."

Harry did so and was amazed to see his hair was as blond as Draco Malfoy's and was swept to the side showing a forehead without a scar. He did look like a different person. "Cool!"

"Thanks!" she exclaimed and grinned. "I did pretty well at disguises in Auror School. It's only a simple glamour, but it should do. Now let's go shopping! Oh, and you're to act like my son and I'll be your mum."

They selected some jeans and shirts for him before Tonks happily pulled him over to the smarter clothes.

"Why do I need these?" Harry asked, giving her a very confused look.

"You never know, Harry," she said, looking as if she did have a very good idea why, "you might need to look good in the _this world_ sometime."

Harry wasn't sure about that, but he didn't argue. The fact that she was grinning at him didn't put him at ease.

When she dragged him to the underwear section, he blushed and politely but adamantly said, "No."

"Harry, I can tell you're embarrassed, but everyone needs these too. Pick out whatever you need." When he still refused to do so, she pinned him with a stare worthy of Mrs Weasley as she leaned over and quietly told him, "Harry, select what you need or I'll charm all of your existing ones pink - with red hearts!"

After he figuratively picked his chin up off the floor, he grabbed the first two packages in his size that he saw, threw them in the cart, and practically ran away from that area. He did his best to ignore the chuckling from behind him.

By the end of their time, Harry thought it had been a pretty good trip. Besides the clothes, he'd also picked up a few Muggle things on his list, like pens and a few spiral notebooks, plus a toothbrush.

"Now where Tonks?"

"Besides lunch?"

"Yeah, that would be good too."

"There's a spot near here where we can eat, then it's off to Diagon Alley for a few things we can only get there," she told him.

"What?"

"The top most thing on my list is a backup wand. I think you need something you can keep hidden on you in case your normal one is taken away from you. As an Auror, I can help you get one," she explained.

They went to a Muggle pizza place, which Harry thought was wonderful, and had a late leisurely lunch.

Tonks hurriedly took him through the Leaky Cauldron and out towards Ollivander's. It was late afternoon and nearing closing time for most shops, which was what she wanted. As they went into the shop, she pulled out her wand to make his sign say "closed" and then closed his one open curtain. Harry was surprised the wizened man didn't object, but instead greeted her. "Miss Tonks, how nice to see you again. And who have you brought me today?"

"Mr Ollivander, we need a backup wand for this young man."

"Certainly." Turning to a still blond and scarless looking Harry he politely asked, "May I see your current wand young man?"

Harry carefully reach under his shirt and pulled his wand out from under his waistband and handed it over. It didn't take more than a few seconds for the old man to start smiling and say, "Good to see you again, Mr Potter." Harry knew his face was filled with surprise since his eyebrows were up as high on his forehead as they would go. The wand maker chuckled at his reaction. "I thought I told you before, Mr Potter, that I remember every wand I've ever sold, no?" Not waiting for an answer, he turned back to Tonks. "What did you have in mind for Mr Potter, a normal wand, or one of the shorter Auror backup wands?"

"A short one if you please." Harry didn't know why she'd requested that, but it did sound interesting. Turning to Harry she told him, "The smaller ones are easier to hide somewhere on you."

Ollivander turned and started hunting through boxes, much like the first time he'd been in this store. Nearly five minutes later he came back with three boxes. "Let's try these first." He handed over a wand that wasn't quite as long as the palm and fingers on his hand, maybe six inches at most. Harry gave it a short wave and a gust of wind nearly blew Ollivander over. "No, I think not," he took the wand back and handed him the second one. When Harry waved it, it appeared to do nothing, but Harry could feel it vibrate a little. "Most curious! Try this one." He was handed the third short wand.

With a wave, Harry felt music. That was distinctly weird because he knew he hadn't heard it, but he did feel it. Looking up in astonishment, the wand maker smiled at him. "Phoenix feather in Yew. You seem to have an affinity for the magical birds, Mr Potter."

"We'll take an arm holster for that too, Mr Ollivander," Tonks mentioned.

"Two sir," Harry spoke up. "I'd like one for my normal wand as well."

"Good thinking young man. Two it is."

A few minutes later they let themselves out of the shop with a small bag of goodies and twenty Galleons lighter. With a quick check of their surroundings, she took him to a small shop a few doors down whose window was filled with spectacles. In here was an older lady who looked almost as old as Mr Ollivander.

"Madam Bunn," Tonks greeted her and showed her something; Harry guessed it to be some sort of ID. "This young man needs an eye exam, and I'd like to see if we can get him contact lenses." Harry was surprised at hearing that, but didn't object. He didn't mind his glasses, but he did wish he didn't have to deal with them at times, like during a fight when he did worry he'd lose them or have them broken so he couldn't see an enemy.

She smiled in a friendly way and directed Harry to a stool. She asked for his glasses and looked at them very carefully, then took her wand and did some sort of diagnostic spell on him. Hmphf'ing, she searched and found a device, which looked like Omnioculars to Harry, and asked him to tell her when the picture in it became clear. He held them up and she tapped her wand on it very lightly a few times until Harry told her it was good.

Looking at the device she told him more than she asked him. "You've been having headaches lately haven't you." Harry was stunned by this and apparently it showed. "Yes, poor vision can do that to you. Hold on a minute and I'll get you something. It should help you with your studies too," she said before leaving abruptly for the back room.

Harry looked at Tonks who smiled at him and ignored the obvious question. "She does work for the department from time to time. It costs a little extra, but there will be no records of this visit." Harry was still thinking this through when she returned a few minutes later.

"Sit very still, I'm going to put these lenses in your eyes." Holding his head and one eye-lid open in one hand, she put the contact lens on his left eye with the other hand; followed by the other eye. Though she was quite gentle, it was one of the hardest things Harry had ever had to do. Seeing that finger come at his eye and knowing he had to trust her. In what seemed like a long yet short time, she was done and asked him to read a sheet of paper. It was incredible how much easier it was.

"Thanks! I didn't realize what had happened to me," he told the eye specialist.

"Don't worry about it, most people don't realize how much their vision affects them. I guess you don't need these glasses anymore. Do you want to keep them for a souvenir or shall I toss them?" The eye healer looked at him patiently.

But before he could answer, Tonks jumped in. "Can you make them into normal glass so he looks like he still needs them?"

Without a word, she tapped each lens with her wand before handing the glasses back to Harry, who put them on. "By the way, those lenses will repel dust, water, and most everything else you don't want in your eyes. Also, you don't have to take those out until you need new ones. That's also part of the magic," she said with a smile.

Tonks gave the lady a small bag of Galleons, probably around a hundred Harry guessed, and they left after thanking the woman again. Both of them tried to watch around them for danger without being too obvious as they walked back towards the Leaky Caldron, and neither said anything to the other until they got back into the car in Muggle London.

"Err, Tonks, how is it that you can drive? I've never seen any other magical person do it."

Tonks chuckled. "I really need to get you out more. You know someone else who can: Arthur Weasley."

"Oh yeah," he said sheepishly as he remembered his ride in the old Anglia, causing her to chuckle again.

"Arthur is an exception in many ways. Most of us who drive are either Muggle-born or have Muggle-born parents. In my case, I have a Muggle-born dad who taught me. He said it was good to know both worlds." She took a deep breath and slowly sighed. "I'll probably teach my children too, but the reality is that after a couple of generations beyond the Muggle-born parent, the desire to able to live in both worlds is usually lost."

Harry considered that. "I suppose I can understand. I know how I grew up, but the Wizarding world is so fun, I think I'll stay mostly in it after I grow up."

"And that's why the worlds are so separated," she replied.

They talked about inconsequential things the rest of the way back, until Harry mentioned looking forward to returning to school. Not knowing how to bring up the last important thing she wanted to talk to Harry about, she used that opening. "Harry, there was one more thing I need to ask you about."

Harry was unconcerned as he looked at her; the day had gone quite well he thought.

"When you return to school, you're going to have to talk to Dumbledore from time to time. How do you feel about that?" She tried to watch him out of the corner of her eye as she drove.

It was so obvious it couldn't be missed, Harry closed up. "Why do you ask?"

Tonks caught the few deep breaths before he answered as well as the chilliness in his tone.

"Harry, you're going to have to work with him at least a little while you're there next year. He knows a lot of things that can help you; and he is the headmaster. But I ask because I saw a reaction to his name when I mentioned it earlier today and Remus also told me you reacted badly to Dumbledore in front of him as well, though he didn't tell me exactly what you said."

This was something Harry really didn't want to talk about, be he wasn't sure how to avoid it. "He's just not my friend right now." He hoped she would leave it at that, but he didn't get that wish.

"Why not Harry? If you tell me, maybe I can help."

He sat there for a very long moment thinking about how to answer, and how much to tell. Tonks kept quiet and kept driving, though she continued to glance at him. "He's hurt me Tonks. I respect him, but he's hurt me and I don't know how much I trust him right now."

_Now what happened?_ Tonks wondered. This was something completely unexpected. The Dursleys she understood, they had never treated the boy right, but Dumbledore? Oh, right, "The Dursleys, you don't like him for putting you with the Dursleys do you?"

"That's one." Harry's voice was very far away. "He finally told me after the Department of Mysteries fight why he'd done it. I guess I understand, at least from a protection point of view, but I wonder if he really knows what I went through there." Tonks didn't know a whole lot for sure, but being an Auror, she'd investigated a few child abuse cases and those gave her a good idea. It almost broke her heart.

"I'm sorry Harry, I truly am. I'd fix your past if I could." He just nodded. "What else Harry?" She didn't let up.

"Last year, I became a nobody to him. He dropped me like a rotten tomato. He was like a Grandfather before, then last year he seemed to avoid me unless he couldn't, like at the trial. He said it was to protect himself, but if he's the greatest wizard of this age, why did he treat me like dirt?" Harry never raised his voice in this complaint; it was just cold and heartless.

Memories of old Order meetings came to Tonks' mind as she listened. She hadn't disagreed with Dumbledore then when he said what he was going to do, but she hadn't really agreed either. Now she could see that the full cost of that decision hadn't been thought out. She hoped that she would never forget that she was dealing with a living human being and not a tool. She also hoped that was the last problem. "Was there any more Harry?"

He sat there a moment, "Yeah…"

_Damn! This was worse than what Remus had imagined,_ thought Tonks.

A stronger voice, one starting to fill with anger went on. "I really feel like he's set me up to fail by withholding information from me." Now he was starting to let go of his restraint. "Did you know he told me he thought about telling me about the Prophecy and why all this was happening back in my first and second years? Imagine if he had? Think about how much more prepared I'd be. But No! I'm having to cram it all in now." His voice was just below a shout. "And look how he's let Snape treat me for five years now, not to mention the abuse and nearly worthlessness of Snape's Occlumency lessons. Surely there's someone else who could have taught me? He's also could have told me about the prophecy so I didn't go to the Department of Mystery and get Sirius killed. So after all that, tell me Tonks, how can I trust him now?"

Though Tonks didn't fully see it the same way, she could see his point of view. Damn the old man for his shortsightedness. After that vent, she knew there was almost nothing she could say to make it better, and almost any defense would make things worse.

"Harry, I … what do I say?" She paused groping for the right words. "Look, I know this is not an explanation that will make you happy, but he is only human; and we can fix some of this…"

"Right. To err is human to forgive is divine," sarcasm dripped from his comment. "Sorry, I don't feel like being divine right now. Maybe later. A lot later. But not soon. If you want to know why I've tried changing recently, this is why. I don't trust him with making choices for me, so I'm going to have to do that for myself."

"I understand Harry. I said we can fix some of it. Will you let me try and help?"

"Like how?" The anger in his forceful tone was still there.

"First, I can get you information. You're going to have to promise to keep it to yourself, but I'm willing to bend some rules and make you an unofficial member of the Order. I won't bother with all the mundane trivia that happens at most meetings, but if something is happening, I promise that I'll make sure you know. How's that for a start?"

Harry considered that. "That's a start, what else?" The anger was reduced to petulance.

"Second, you and I both know you need to return to the Dursleys a little while longer this summer and for a month next summer. That's about six weeks total. Hang in there Harry and I'll continue the charade and keep the abuse to mere unpleasantness. If I can get lucky, I'll get your aunt and uncle to let you live there and ignore you. Can you live with that?"

That condition was what he was asking for the other day, but he didn't want to give in too easily. "I suppose."

"I believe I can shame Dumbledore into treating you right, plus get someone else to give you Occlumency lessons; but Snape is a git who you're just going to have to put up with for Potions, though I may have a way to make it a little better." With that description of the Potions master from her, he had to fight to keep the smile off his face. Tonks noticed the struggle on his face but didn't say anything. He was growing up, but he wasn't there yet, she thought.

"OK."

That she'd gotten to this point she considered a minor miracle. Now she just had to deliver.

In an attempt to continue the save, she took the conversation to Quidditch. "Oh, another detail about school. If you had the chance to be Quidditch captain or not, what would you chose? It'll be between you and Katie Bell."

"Hmm, that's tough," he told her, glad to have changed topics. "It would be great, but I also know I'm going to be really busy. From what you tell me, I'm not sure I'll have enough time to do it justice." That topic carried them the rest of the way back to Privet Drive.

As they pulled into the driveway, Tonks changed topics again. "One last piece of advice I just remembered." Harry looked at her a little warily. "When you get up in the morning and sometime after dinner, do some exercises. You know push-ups, sit-ups, squats, whatever you can think of; and do as many of each as you can. I'd tell you to go for a run, but I know you don't have space here and I don't really want you to leave the house. That exercise will have to wait until later."

He gave her an incredulous, "Why?"

"Because, extended battles require a lot of effort, and I want you to get used to the physical exertion. I have another plan for you too, but that will also have to wait." She winked at him before opening the door to escort him to the house.

With another small lecture to the Dursleys threatening them that if even a single thread on Harry's new clothes was harmed they'd be done for, Tonks/Drury left after telling them she'd return on Monday. As he went to take his bags up to his room, Uncle Vernon told him he could just stay up there for the rest of the day. Harry knew the threat of no dinner was supposed to be a punishment, but Uncle Vernon didn't know about Dobby. In fact, Harry rather preferred Dobby's meals and his company to his Muggle relatives. Other than a few topics he'd rather have not discussed, it had been the most pleasant day of his summer holiday yet.

* * *

(eoc)


	3. Reunion

**Version:** 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

**Chapter 3: Reunion**

Because of the daily "inspections", and because the Dursleys had yet to catch on to the fact that his social services worker was a fake, life at Privet Drive was actually quite tolerable for the first time in his life. A few days after the big shopping spree, life got even better when Harry finally realised that Aunt Petunia wasn't always around the house all day and he now had a house-elf who excelled at cleaning. So when he started having Dobby help with housework when Aunt Petunia was gone, he suddenly had a lot more free time on his hands; plus a busy Dobby was a happy Dobby.

After a couple of days of catching up on his sleep with some small naps, since he didn't seem to have nightmares if he kept the naps short enough, he was feeling pretty good. In fact, he was getting a little bored. So he got his Gringotts key, gave it to Dobby and told the elf to go withdraw a thousand Galleons, then go by the book shop. Harry felt that this was one area he would follow Hermione's example and get ahead on his reading for the first time in his life. It had to be a good thing considering all the work Tonks had outlined for him. So he gave Dobby a list with his standard grade level class books in his five subject areas for both sixth and seventh years, a number of "classics" in defense, especially the advanced areas, all five years of school books for Runes through NEWTs, and finally a couple of books in spell creation theory just because the topic sounded interesting. By the time Harry had finished mowing the lawn that day, Dobby had all the books in his room and a still sizeable sack of gold left over.

Glancing through the Rune books, he all but fell asleep and wondered how he was going to make it through them, but the spell creation books proved so interesting he almost got caught laying down on the job by Aunt Petunia.

During Tonks' visit that evening, Harry showed her his new stack of books.

"Very good, Harry," Tonks told him with a big smile. "I'm proud that you're thinking ahead and helping yourself." Harry glowed at the praise. "I'll see if I can get an older Auror training manual for you. Kingsley is my team leader and he should be good for something," she said with a wink.

As she was about to walk out the door, she suddenly whirled around and gave Harry a questioning look. "Wait a minute Harry, how'd you get all those books? A stack that large would have taken a flock of owls, unless they were shrunk and then the underage magic detectors should have caught you enlarging them."

Harry gulped as he realised he'd stepped in it now. Tripped up by a small detail that the Auror's mind had not completely missed. While considering what to tell her, she adopted the "hands on hips" stance and gave him a "you'd better come clean" look. Harry couldn't take it and looked down at his feet while he meekly admitted, "I had a little help."

"Who?" Her tone was firm.

Not knowing what else to do, Harry walked the couple of steps over to his closet and opened the door. "Dobby, will you come out please." An elf head leaned out from inside as if trying to shield his body.

The Auror looked from elf to her charge, and back and forth a few more times. When she recovered she addressed Harry with a tired acceptance in her voice. "How long has he been here, Harry?"

"About a couple weeks now. I accidentally called him a few days before Moony came over."

"Accidentally? It doesn't work that way Harry. House-elves only answer to those they're bound to in some way, either family-wise or employed by."

"Don't look at me. I just said his name and he came." Both humans now looked at Dobby.

"Harry Potter Sir called for me and I came." He stated it like it that made everything obvious. Tonks and Harry just exchange unknowing looks.

"All right," she started slowly, "why did you call him?"

"I, uh…" How did he want to say this? "I was thinking that I might need a few errands run and knew I couldn't leave. Being able to have dinner regularly sounded good. Well, and maybe have a little magic done too." Tonks glared at him. "Oh, and I figured a protector wouldn't hurt either." How did she make him feel about five he wondered?

Her eyes narrowed, "Why would you need a protector, Harry? Surely you remember that we always have someone watching this house."

In a very neutral voice he told her, "They don't protect me from what's inside the house, Tonks."

Without hesitation, she rushed to him and pulled him into a hug worthy of Mrs. Weasley. "Oh Harry, I'm so sorry. You're right, you shouldn't have to live in fear, or miss dinners, or be locked up." She let him out of the hug, but left her hands on his shoulders. "I'm not angry, Harry, I guess I'm just really surprised you'd have to do this. Even though I had a Muggle father, I still grew up with magic and I guess I forgot what it could be like to be living in a house like this. You be careful with what you have Dobby do. I don't want either one of you to get into trouble. Understand?"

Being relieved at being let off so easily, Harry readily agreed. Changing back to her social worker appearance, Tonks left.

* * *

On Friday, Tonks told him that he would indeed be leaving on the 1st of August. As that was a Thursday, it should make things easier since they'd only have to deal with Petunia. He was to be ready at nine o'clock in the morning, though she wouldn't appear if Vernon was still there. Harry debated on whether to tell his Aunt he was leaving next week, but decided that he'd leave everything alone, lest they try to give him a lot of last minute chores or something. He eagerly started the countdown to next Thursday.

Though not much changed over the week, on the morning of the 1st of August Harry was in a disagreeable mood. He'd had the Department of Mysteries nightmare twice last night. While still laying in bed, he tried to clear his mind of emotion, or at least caring about his emotions; it had helped a little but not much. Of course, being awakened early by Uncle Vernon for chores didn't help, his bad mood on his last day there added fuel to his rebellious fire.

He started to get out of bed like normal when he stopped and called for Dobby instead. He had a plan.

"Dobby, will you please lock the door so no one can get in?" Fortunately he'd gotten up and gone to the bathroom between the nightmares, so that wouldn't be a problem for a while.

With a wave of his hand, Dobby locked the door. "Will Harry Potter Sir need Dobby for breakfast since he can't leave?"

"Yes, please. Bring whatever is easy and something for yourself. I'll start packing and then we can have breakfast together." Dobby bobbed his head and winked out. Harry got dressed, choosing his new jeans and one of the nicer polo type shirts. Tonks had picked it out for him saying it matched his eyes so nicely. That done, he started gathering all his things, including the letters he had hidden under the loose board in the floor.

He'd managed to write Hermione a couple of short letters, the last asking if she thought Arithmancy was actually useful. He knew he was asking for it by sending her that question, but he was mildly curious. Sifting through her long reply, he came to the conclusion that he really didn't need it, or at least not a lot of it. She also seemed quite pleased that he'd written to her for advice.

Ron's letters were as short as Harry's had been. Pretty much everything is OK sort of thing, though he did talk a bit about the Chudley Cannons prospects for this year in one of them.

The letter from Ginny was quite the surprise though. Sure his letter had been to Ron and Ginny; it seemed natural enough to do since she was his friend too, but he really hadn't expected an answer back from her. It was a very friendly one, more of a stream of consciousness describing a relaxing summer. She'd also expressed interest in seeing all his books. Hermione had said the same thing, which was to be expected, but this was a side of Ginny he hadn't seen before. That got him to wondering what else he didn't know about her. He idly thought about her while he finished packing.

Dobby returned with food as Harry finished packing. Just as he was sitting down on the floor and making himself comfortable with a plate of bacon and eggs, he heard Uncle Vernon pounding on the door and yelling. "Boy! Get out here right now and get to work!"

The foul mood he'd woken up with returned to replace the almost good mood he'd found while thinking about his friends. He almost shouted back before he remembered the _Imperturbable_ charm on his room. Taking a deep breath to calm himself somewhat, he turned to Dobby. "Will you please remove the charm on the door so Uncle Vernon can hear me? Be sure the door stays locked."

Dobby snapped his fingers. Now Harry had to choose wisely, or throw all caution to the wind. His mood made up his mind for him.

"I don't think so Uncle Vernon, not today." And in a quieter voice, "Dobby, would you please pass the pumpkin juice?"

"What?! What do you mean not today boy?!" It was obvious that his uncle was upset, but Harry really didn't care. He had already decided he was not going to be taken advantage of today. "After all we've done for you? How dare you be ungrateful!" Harry imaged his uncle's face was quite red by now; he wondered if he could make it go towards purple.

"Not today Uncle Vernon, and not anymore this summer. I'm leaving shortly so there's no use in starting anything." While he had to talk loud, he was making the effort to be distantly polite, not because he cared but because he knew that would infuriate his uncle even more.

He heard his uncle growl an obscenity and shake the door to come in, but the magical lock held. "I don't know what you've done to the door boy, but if you don't want to come out, then you can just stay in there!" Harry heard several of the locks on the outside of the door being snapped into place.

The Boy-Who-Lived smiled at his house-elf whom he thought of more as a friend that any of the Dursleys. "Nice job on the bacon Dobby, crisp without being burnt." Dobby blushed, or that's how Harry interpreted the greenish tinge.

When breakfast was finished, he let Dobby take care of all the dishes while he searched the room one more time for anything he might have missed. Not finding anything, he grabbed his spell creation book and sat on his bed to read and use up the last half hour or so of his imprisonment there.

One last thing crossed his mind that he had to know. "Dobby, will you be going back to Hogwarts now?"

"Yes, Harry Sir. There is cleaning to be done for next term."

"If something should happen and I need you, say to run an errand, will you be able to hear me if I call for you?"

"Oh yes, Dobby will hear Harry Potter and will answer immediately." The elf looked eager for more work from Harry, so he smiled and thanked the elf as he went back to his reading.

Shortly after nine he heard the doorbell ring. He didn't get up. A couple of minutes later, he heard _Alohomora_ several times on his door. Watching the door, he saw it open and a very cautious and natural looking Tonks peer in. Since there didn't seem to be a problem inside the room, she slowly walked in seeing Harry sitting on the bed with his book, his trunk and owl cage with owl in the middle of the room, and Dobby sitting on the chair at the small desk. Remus Lupin followed her in.

In a puzzled voice Tonks asked him, "Harry? Why didn't anyone answer the door, and why were you locked in here with both Muggle locks and a spell?" So he had to explain what had happened that morning. Neither of his escorts said anything to him, but merely looked at one another in puzzlement, each awaiting the other to say something.

Harry broke the silence. "If you'll excuse me, I need to take a quick trip to the bathroom before we go. The pumpkin juice is kicking in." As he reached the bathroom door, he heard laughter coming from his room.

Upon returning, both of his minders were casually talking as if in their own world. He stood there for a moment listening to them discuss a play both of them had seen but disagreed on what the premise of the writer was. By the way they stood and looked at one another, Harry could tell something was going on between them. He thought that was a good thing, that both of them needed someone. Each not only had a lot to offer the other, but also needed someone very special in their life. He hoped it would work out for them. Finally he walked on into the room. "I'm ready." They both immediately straightened from their relaxed pose and moved slightly away from the other. It was amusing to the teenager.

Moony grabbed the trunk, Tonks pulled out a short length of rope then grabbed the cage with Hedwig in it, while Harry picked up his book. They all grabbed onto the rope Portkey and Tonks with her wand in the same hand as the birdcage, tapped the rope and said, "Activate." The familiar pull and spin enveloped Harry, and before he had breathed more than twice, he was standing in the living room of The Burrow.

Harry only stumbled one step on his landing, which was an improvement. Looking around he saw Ron and Hermione look up from their chess game. No one else was waiting in the room.

"Harry!" Ron rose to greet his friend, but his chess opponent got there first with a big hug for her friend. With the book still in his hand, he gave her a quick hug back and noticed that she seemed to be slightly shorter than he remembered, though looking at Ron, Ron seemed to be about the same. Odd he thought. When Hermione let go, he shook Ron's hand and they slapped each other on the shoulder. "Hey mate, come on, let me give you hand with the stuff."

Ron grabbed one end of the trunk and Harry picked up the other end and the owl cage. Or at least he tried to get the owl cage, but his book was in the way. Seeing his difficulty, Hermione grabbed his book and told him, "I'll hold this until you get back."

He smiled at her. "Thanks. You might like to borrow that one when I'm done." The two boys left the room. Of course they barely entered into the kitchen when Mrs. Weasley shouted, "Harry!" and went over to give him one of her famous hugs. Harry barely put the trunk down on the floor in time.

Marveling at the welcome, Harry couldn't quite figure out why it seemed like home here. Sure the Weasleys treated him like family, but it was more than that. There was also the smell of food in the air, which was always good, and yet there was something more and Harry couldn't quite put his finger on it. Eventually, the boys continued their journey up.

The boys had barely left the living room when Hermione whirled around to face the two adults. "He's changed. What happened?" She watched the two of them smirk at each other. Realising she had a fairly thick book of his in her hand she looked at it. "_An Introduction to the Theory of Spell Creation_? Harry never reads books unless it's about Quidditch, so what's he doing with this?" She looked intently back and forth between the two.

Remus decided he'd answer since he'd known Hermione longer and she had once been his student. "He's trying to change Hermione. He's been looking at his life a lot lately and decided there needed to be some changes." A big hopeful smile crossed her face so fast Remus felt he better rein that in a bit. "Hold on girl," he told her and put a friendly hand on her shoulder to steady her. "Harry is a work in progress. Just like Rome wasn't built in a day, Harry needs more than a month to get where he needs to be. So please don't get too hopeful and push him too hard." He raised an eyebrow at her with the implied _Understand?_

The bushy haired girl physically deflated a bit, but still kept her huge smile. "He's finally doing it isn't he? He's becoming the wizard to defeat You-Know-Who."

Tonks put her hand on the girl's other shoulder. "He's trying." The Auror smiled at the young lady. "I know you want to help him, and you will, but please heed Remus's warning and don't help him too much. I already have a blistering pace setup in front of him and he's only beginning to realise it. Gentle help is what he needs, and he'll take care of the rest."

The words, "I understand," came out, but none of the fire had left her face.

After the boys had dropped off the trunk and started to return downstairs, Harry almost literally ran into Ginny as she came out of her room right when he was walking past it. "Oh! Hi Harry, I'm glad you're here. It's always so much more fun when there's four of us." She gave him a nice smile, but he didn't fail to notice that she had not given him a hug as Hermione had done. There were several very valid reasons for her not doing so, but he secretly wished she had.

"Hi Ginny," he replied. "You're right, four does make things better when you're playing games and such." That seemed like a safe reply. She "uh hm'ed" and followed them down.

Ginny wasn't sure what to make of that answer, but did it really matter? She wasn't stuck waiting on Harry any more, and Dean Thomas was there if she wanted him. That was also a question she would have to answer soon.

Downstairs, Mrs. Weasley was talking to Tonks, Remus, and Hermione when Harry, Ron, and Ginny entered the kitchen. The topic was Tonks' schedule that was about to change. It was then the youngsters learned she would be spending a lot of time at Hogwarts over the coming year. Partially as a guest instructor in Defense and partially as a security guard. There was concern over the security of the school, and Dumbledore had convinced the Ministry to assign a person there to help out. To Harry, it was expected; but the other three were excited. Hermione picked up on the fact that Harry didn't seem surprised, but she didn't have time to quiz him right then.

Mrs. Weasley had them set the table so they could have an early lunch. Remus and Tonks stayed for lunch, but then left afterward saying they each had something to go take care of.

As lunch ended, Molly Weasley smiled at her kids and their two friends. "Go enjoy the afternoon outside and catch up with each other. The chores can wait until tomorrow." That was unusual enough that her two all but ran out the door before she could change her mind.

However, just as Ginny reached the door, her mother called her back over. "Ginny!"

"Mum, you said we could go," Ginny complained.

"I did and you can Ginny, but come here just for a second before you go, unless you want me to change my mind?" Ginny pouted on the inside, but went over to her mum.

Hermione waited by the door for her while the two boys hurriedly went ahead outside. Mrs. Weasley bent over and whispered in Ginny's ear. Ginny smiled at her mum and nodded eagerly before she hurried out the door.

Outside, Hermione asked, "What was that about?"

"We have to keep Harry outside until half past five."

"Is that the plan?" her brown haired friend asked.

"Yep." At that point the girls came around the end of the house and the clearing came into view. The boys were visible up ahead at the end of the clearing. Harry was jumping up into the air and caught a mostly horizontal branch of a tree and started doing pull-ups. The girls walked very slowly watching the boys.

"He looks good in that shirt doesn't he," Hermione whispered.

"Matches his eyes," the redhead said. "But look how he's filled out, he must be exercising a lot."

"Must be. I wonder if I could get him to get Ron to join him?"

Ginny gave her friend a light laugh. "Maybe you could get Harry to get Ron to say something about how he feels about you to you too?" Hermione blushed a bit at that.

Hermione had also been silently counting too while she talked. Harry was up to thirty-four and was only now starting to struggle. She looked at her younger friend as she teased, "I bet those arms would feel good around a girl." Now it was Ginny's turn to blush.

"I'd swear I had to look up at him more too. I thought I was only a couple of inches last year, but now, it's got to be more."

"I think you're right Ginny, and it looks good on him too." Ginny nodded in agreement.

He'd barely hit forty, but Harry had made it so he dropped from the tree and shook his arms. Noticing the girls had caught up he looked at Ron. "So where are we going?"

"I was thinking down by the pond. There's a nice shady spot there."

Looking at the girls to get their reaction, both of them sort of shrugged like "whatever", so he told his redheaded friend, "Lead on then." A few minutes later, they came to the pond and Ron took a seat in the grass under a big tree. Harry sat next to him but at a right angle. Hermione sat next to Ron facing Harry and forming a "U". That left the spot next to Hermione and Harry for Ginny to complete the square. Ginny wondered if her friend had planned it that way or if it had just happened.

While Harry had seen what she was wearing earlier, it seemed like he noticed it for the first time, or maybe it was her in her fairly tight faded blue jeans and light blue sleeveless blouse that he really noticed and appreciated. Somehow, Ginny wasn't just Ron's little sister anymore.

"So Hermione, what did you do this summer?" Hermione was surprised that Harry had asked her; normally she would have started this. Another interesting thing about him she thought.

Hermione spent the next fifteen minutes talking about her trip to Italy. She ended it with how much fun it had been to see all the historical sites, as well as spending time on the beach. She was trying to decide how to turn the conversation back to Harry and his summer when she saw him lazily turn to Ron and say, "I think Hermione must have enjoyed the beach quite a bit Ron, the tan looks good on her don't you think?" That surprised Hermione, but it surprised Ron even more as he seemed to have the deer caught in the headlights look. A quick glance to the right showed her Ginny was only barely suppressing a giggle.

A pinkish colored Ron eventually muttered, "Uh huh."

"How about you Ginny," Harry asked her, "what have you been doing?"

"Not a whole lot worth mentioning. I've been mostly relaxing in between bouts of cleaning for mum. At least I haven't had to continue cleaning all the who-knows-what at Grimmauld Place." The second Ginny said it, she wished she could have taken it back, and sure enough, Harry had heard the reference and his head dropped down, causing him to stop looking at her. She could have kicked herself for mentioning a reference to Sirius.

Hermione saw it too and tried to quickly jump into the gap. "Ron, what did you do this summer?"

Noticing but not fully comprehending his friend's mood swing he launched into his tale. "Like Ginny not much, until Bill took me to a Chudley Cannons game. Harry you should have seen it, it was wickedly awesome."

Hermione saw Harry look up at his friend with an almost normal look. She would have kissed Ron for that save if she could have.

"It was almost as good as the World Cup match we went to two years ago. I think they all had the new Firebolt II broom. Have you seen it yet?"

"Oh yeah." Harry was becoming more animated as he warmed up to the topic. "I've got a Quality Quidditch Supplies catalog that features it with all the specs."

"I really want to see that!" Ron appeared to be nearly beside himself in anticipation.

Hermione couldn't believe mentioning a new broom model should have this effect on people. She turned to share her skepticism with Ginny, but found her as enthralled as Harry. Afraid they'd be stuck on this topic for hours, she tried to redirect the conversation.

"So Harry, what about your summer, how has it been going for you?" There was so much she wanted to ask him: how he was dealing with Sirius's loss, the Department of Mysteries experience, nightmares, the changes Remus had alluded to; but she somehow remembered the "gentle" advice too and tried her best to be patient. As she watched him sit there thinking about how to answer her, she also couldn't help but notice this was definitely a changed Harry. Last year's model would have told her nothing or some other trivial answer. He was thinking things through more now.

After a more than a few seconds of pause, which caused the other three to wonder if he was going to explode, except that his face didn't show it, he said, "If we're only counting the holiday, then this has been one of the best I've ever had." His smile looked genuine.

"How's that Harry?" Hermione just had to dig deeper.

"Well, I've kind of finally figured out how to deal with the Dursleys." He smiled at an inner thought. "They're still abominable to be around, but there have been a few small changes that make it bearable now. One reason it's better, and another thing that's changed is that I've now got a real legal guardian and Godmother." Harry beamed with that statement.

"Oh Harry, I'm so happy for you!" Hermione's face showed it too. "Who is it?"

With both pride and embarrassment on his face, he blurted out, "Tonks!"

"Tonks?" She was shocked, still, "I'm happy for you."

"Harry, I'm happy for you too and I think she'll be good for you as well." Ginny was quite sincere and Harry told them thanks.

Hermione thought she must have missed something having been away - it was so unfair - because Ginny not only didn't seem surprised at the news, she thought it a good thing. There must be more than meets the eye here she thought.

Harry's face suddenly changed. "Um, while I have all of you here, there is something else you really should know." A large part of him wanted to run from this, but he'd been telling himself for weeks he needed to do this. _I am a Gryffindor. I am a Gryffindor._ The mantra running through his head, he plowed on. "I've been thinking about a lot of things lately, and, uh, one of the things I noticed was how badly I treated you, all of you, last year."

"Harry, ..." and "It's OK, ..." came at him, but he held his hand to stop them.

"Please, I really need to do this." Thankfully, that stopped them. Taking a deep breath he went on. "I'm really sorry I was such a prat. While a lot of, err, ugly things were happening to me, I still shouldn't have taken out my frustration on you. I'll do my best not to let it happen again." That said, he turned and looked at Ron.

Ron easily told him, "It's OK mate, we're good." They smiled at each other like only two little boys could.

Hermione was touched to see that, but then the smile slipped from his face and a questioning one replaced it as he turned and looked at her. Her breath caught. While a small part of her loved looking into those green eyes, the analytical part recognized he was looking for forgiveness. She slowly smiled at him, which he returned. "Harry, I understand. You were already forgiven." She started to go on, but he had already nodded and was turning his head.

Now Ginny felt his gaze come upon her. She felt lost in his green eyes and she was glad she was sitting down; that kind of gaze always made her weak in the knees. Ginny felt she could have just sat there and looked at him for a very long time, but a small part of her brain functioned just enough to let her know he was waiting for a response. She more breathed than said, "Of course Harry, you are like family."

It felt so good to hear that from them, but Ginny's family comment really struck a chord within him. Again, there was that elusive something about being home that he couldn't quite pin down. "Thank you," he told her. Another observation hit him; she had some of the most wonderful brown eyes, understanding light brown eyes.

Then the moment was broken. "So Harry," Ron spoke up, "what else has changed this summer."

Harry pulled himself back into the present and turned to look at Ron, "Well, let's see... Better at Privet drive, Godmother," he looked up as if searching a list.

"Doing a lot of reading? I noticed your book."

He gave Hermione an easy laugh. "No surprise that you wouldn't miss the book Hermione. Yeah, actually I have. Not much to do in my bedroom there."

"But spell creation? That's pretty advanced, even for seventh years and we're only in sixth."

"I suppose," he said nonchalantly. "It seemed like it might be useful. Tonks and I have been talking about what NEWT classes to take this year, so I've been reading some of those books too."

"What?" Ron looked incredulous. "You're reading school books during the holiday? Have you gone mental?"

Harry only laughed and was not upset. Hermione liked this Harry. A few months ago he would have snapped Ron's head off for that question.

"I told you it was boring at times, besides, I've realised how much I need to learn as I was thinking about things." Hermione noticed a brief sad look flash across his face just before he looked at her with a very plotting look. "I've also decided that you're not going to get the top grade in every class Hermione, especially in three of them." Harry knew he always beat her in Defense, but he thought he could beat her in Charms and Transfiguration too if he really tried.

Though some had called her the smartest witch in the school, Hermione was flabbergasted to hear that. His look turned into a most mischievous grin and he nodded his resolve at her. "Yeah, right Harry. Like you're going to out study me?" She heard a giggle from Ginny's direction but didn't break eye contact with Harry.

He held his grin. "I've already got all of my new textbooks and have read the first several chapters of all of them, have you?" he asked cheekily.

Laughter exploded from her right so she looked over to see that Ginny had fallen over and was literally rolling on the ground laughing. Ron was chuckling too, enjoying the moment at her expense. "Well ..." she was indignant, then the hilarity of the moment finally caught up to her too. After a moment she went on in a more graceful manner. "Very well Harry. I look forward to the challenge, and the extra free time from not having to help you with your homework." That set Ginny off again and Harry good naturally took the ribbing with a "Touché". "But how can you know what classes you'll be taking since we haven't got our OWL scores yet?"

OWL scores, classes to be taken, and wondering who would be the next DADA teacher kept them occupied for quite some time. It wasn't until the sun hit Ginny in the eyes as it approached the horizon that she even thought to look at her watch. She almost cried out in alarm when she noticed it was twenty to six; she was ten minutes late. "Hey, we gotta go! Dinner is soon and Hermione, we have to go help."

"Good idea, my stomach could definitely use some food."

"Ron, when does your stomach not want food?" Ginny complained at his complaint.

"For a few minutes after I've eaten," he joked back.

"Come on Hermione," Ginny encouraged her friend as she stood up, and she ran a little bit to get back faster and to put them ahead of the boys, who were taking their time walking back lest they get asked to do extra work.

"I hope mum doesn't kill us, we were supposed to be back ten minutes ago." Ginny was walking fast.

"It'll be all right, Ginny, she'll be in a good mood. So what do you think of the new Harry?" Both girls glanced back at the boys to doubly make sure they were far enough ahead not to be overheard.

Ginny seemed to purr her sigh. "What's not to like? Sure, he still got some moodiness to him, but I swear I almost lost it when he stared at me when he was apologizing to us."

It was Hermione's turn to giggle at her friend. "So what are you going to do about it?"

A groan escaped Ginny now. "I don't know. I gave up waiting on him and have been mostly happy, but seeing him like this, so, so happy, like he should always have been. I don't know what to do."

"You better figure out what you really want Ginny. That Harry you just talked to is going to be noticed by a lot of other girls when he returns to school."

"But Hermione, I want to know that he wants me for me, not because I used to have some stupid crush on him. He's never been rude or anything, but I've always been Ron's little sister to him."

As they reached the house, Hermione got the last word in, "Maybe it's time for the little sister to grow up and show the man who she really is." Ginny took in the big sisterly smile, but her heart was thumping madly at the thought of winning Harry.

The boys sauntered towards The Burrow. Harry was in a good mood due to spending the afternoon with his friends in a normal teenager conversation. "They're looking pretty good aren't they?" he told his red headed friend in a quiet voice.

Ron looked up at the two girls a ways in front of them just in time to see them give a quick look back at the boys. "I don't know, I suppose."

"Yeah, I guess you wouldn't see your sister that way, and while I do see Hermione as something like a sister, I still notice they've, uh, filled out a bit wouldn't you say? Especially the brown headed one."

A slight blush came over Ron. "Yeah, I did notice actually."

"Of course your sister is growing up too."

There was a pause and Harry was about to tease his friend some more when Ron finally spoke up. "You fancy her, Harry?"

That hit Harry hard. He wasn't bothered that Ron asked, but to consider the question point blank like that was a bit frightening. "I, uh, I don't know Ron." He started thinking out loud. "You know, we've been in school together now for four years; and I think it's only today that I think I've really noticed her as someone other than your sister. Though if you don't mind me saying it, I've always thought she was cute." Ron didn't say anything to that, so they walked in silence for a moment. Finally Harry decided to ask Ron the question that was on his mind. "Do you fancy Hermione?"

A look of fear crossed Ron's face. Harry heard some gulping sounds before he heard a soft, "I don't know." Harry smiled at his friend as he thought, _He's got it bad_.

Each of them carried their own thoughts about his girl of choice. Harry was becoming more and more enchanted by the long red hair and faded blue jeans as he watched them disappear into the house.

* * *

.


	4. Party

Version: 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

**Chapter 4: Party**

When the boys came in, only Ginny was in the kitchen; she was getting cups for dinner. "Oh Harry, Dad came home and he's got some new Muggle object he wants you to explain to him."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, he's in the living room. Hermione is trying but isn't having much success. Maybe you could try?" She gave him a winning smile.

Suddenly his heart felt a little fluttery, and again that elusive thought of home filtered through the back of his brain as he walked towards the living room. As he opened the door and stepped into the doorway, he was met with a yell of "SURPRISE!" and many shouts of "Happy Birthday Harry!" He took a half step backwards in surprise, and was surprised again at a pair of strong but small hands in the middle of his back. A quick turn yielded a meek looking Ginny with her hands held out a bit from her body.

"Sorry," she told him with embarrassment, "I didn't expect you to back up."

Something about her being there trying to get in on the moment made him wonder if she had something to do with the party, besides being the decoy. "That's OK, I didn't expect anyone to be behind me. Sorry about that."

Again he smiled at her and Ginny felt pulled to him; but then everyone was coming over to Harry and pulling him into the room and away from her. She sighed to herself and followed.

Harry could hardly believe everyone was here for a party for him. Besides the Weasleys, minus Percy who was still being a git to his family and Charlie who was in Romania, Remus and Tonks were back, Mad-Eye had come, Neville and Luna were there, and even Professor McGonagall had shown up.

Fred quickly put a party hat on him and Harry wondered what was going to happen to him. George came up and handed him a box wrapped in brightly colored paper. "A small token of our appreciation Harry ..."

"... which we expect you to use wisely this year ..." Fred continued.

"... since we can't be there ..." George took up.

"... and someone must carry on the tradition," Fred completed. Harry was always amazed at how they could talk as one person without missing a beat.

He opened his first present to find a box labeled "A Complete WWW Starter Kit to Fun". "Thanks guys! I've been wanting to come see your shop."

"Any time Harry, stop by any time."

"Do make sure the Slytherins get to see some of this," the other twin added joyfully.

"And pass out the brochures we tossed in."

"Sure guys, thanks!" Harry knew this could be fun, though he did his best to ignore Mrs. Weasley's disapproving look. He didn't even try to look at Professor McGonagall, afraid of what he might see.

Ron shoved a box in his hands. "Here's something for you to enjoy mate."

Unwrapping this box he found a large pile of Chocolate Frogs and a little golden ball that looked like a ...

"It's a practice Snitch," his friend told him. "Just like the real thing, but this one will come back to you with a special spell."

"Cool! Thanks Ron, that will be handy." His friend beamed.

Mad-Eye gave him a foe-glass, about half the size of the big one the ex-Auror had. Luna gave him a scrapbook that had every article The Quibbler had ever printed on Harry. He didn't know what to say to Luna, so he just told her, "Thanks Luna. That was very thoughtful."

"I had a great time searching the archives; it was amazing what I found," she told him. Harry decided the wisest thing to do was to let it go at that.

Bill came over and handed him a medium sized box. "It's from Charlie," he said simply. Opening it, Harry pulled out a pair of boots made from scaly green hide. Seeing a note in the top of one of them, he pulled it out.

_Harry,_

In my last letter from home, I was invited to your birthday party. She said you'd understand if I couldn't make it and I hope you do, but I hope these make up for it. We lost a green dragon last week and when I saw the hide I thought it'd fit you perfectly. If you still think they're too much, then consider it my thank you for saving my favorite sister.

Enjoy,  
Charlie

p.s. I think you'll like the silencing runes I put on them too.

"What does it say?" Ron queried. Harry wondered who the she was, there were only two choices. He was starting to wonder if the obvious answer was wrong.

"Charlie says sorry he couldn't make it, but they lost a green dragon and thought I'd like these." He stuffed the note in his pocket so it couldn't be grabbed.

"Put them on Harry," George encouraged him.

"Yeah Harry," Fred egged him on too. "Let's see if you look as good in them as our dragon vests look on us."

Others encouraged him too, so he pulled off his trainers and put them to the side and grabbed a boot. As he started sliding it on, he wondered how Charlie knew what size to get him, but it didn't seem to matter as they went on him like they were tailor made to his size. Magically self-sizing Harry presumed. Dropping his booted foot to the floor to stomp it down and make sure his foot was all the way in, he noticed it didn't make a sound. Pleased, he pulled the other boot on then pushed down his jeans and stood up to see how they felt; and the feeling was good. With a nice shirt and good-looking boots that both matched his eyes, and the black jeans to match his hair, he was stylish for the first time in his life.

"Hey Harry," Bill called, "be sure you wear that same outfit on your first free day at Hogwarts and you'll have so many girls available to you, you can have your choice."

Harry looked up at him in horror at the thought and missed the scathing look Ginny shot Bill, who just smiled back at her. Harry did his best to ignore Fred and George who were making cat-calls at him, and saw Remus and Tonks smiling at one another sharing the unspoken thought about a young man who'd rather face Death Eaters and a Dark Lord than face a bunch of girls who'd like to be his girlfriend.

When he turned, he caught Ginny giving him a look he couldn't quite fathom but thought it was how she normally looked at food. Hermione surprised him with a look like she'd just found a missing rare book.

His scrutiny fortunately came to an end as Bill handed him another present, this time from him. It turned out to be a book called "The Curse Breakers Handbook". An industry standard he'd said. Neville gave him a book called "Plants That Can Defend Your Home". Mr. and Mrs. Weasley gave him a set of books on wards, "Volume 1: Using Wards Effectively" and "Volume 2: Breaking Wards". Hermione gave him a book called "Charms for the Adept".

As Tonks brought a small chest to him, Harry grinned and asked the room at large, "Why do I sense a theme here?"

Ron jumped in with, "Yeah, this seems like a birthday for Hermione." That got a laugh from everyone and a blush from the mentioned girl.

Remus, who had also stepped forward, answered, "Because there is Harry." He laughed with the boy and everyone else. "This is from Tonks and myself. Tap the top with your wand three times."

Harry pulled out his wand and had to reach out because she'd put the small chest so far from him. On the third tap, the chest suddenly expanded and became the size of his normal trunk. "Cool!"

"Open it Harry." Carefully he opened the hasp and lifted the lid. The inside of the lid appeared to be covered with parchment that had words that he'd almost swear looked like book titles. The bottom part of the trunk was a flat wood surface with an inlaid square in a darker color of wood. "Put one of you new books on the dark square Harry."

Grabbing Neville's book, he placed it on the square and after about a second it disappeared. He looked up at Remus in astonishment. "Do it again with another book Harry, but this time watch the list in the lid."

Harry picked up Bill's book and put it on the square and tried the watch the list carefully. He saw the book disappear in the bottom of his vision, and a new line appeared on the list, in alphabetical order. "Wicked!" he borrowed Ron's favorite term.

"Now take your wand," Tonks told him, "and touch the title for the book. Harry held his wand up to the list and touched it to "The Curse Breakers Handbook" and it suddenly appeared on top of the dark square.

Harry heard a gasp from his right and looked up to see Hermione with envy written across her face. "A portable library." It was said with much reverence. Harry took the rest of his books and added them in, as well as Luna's scrapbook, which showed up as "Scrapbook about Harry Potter".

As he was about to close it, Professor McGonagall handed him one more. Unwrapping it, he found a book titled "Winning Transformations". Thanking his professor, he added it to the chest, and closed the lid. He looked up at Remus with his wand raised. Remus nodded and Harry tapped the chest three times and it shrank back down to be almost the size of a half a loaf of bread, and about as light too when he picked it up.

"Where did all the books that were already in it come from?" He looked at Remus then Tonks.

It was his Godmother that answered. "Ask me later Harry, there's a story with that." He smiled and nodded. "Thanks!" He really meant it too.

"Oh Potter," McGonagall said, "it's not really a present, but the Headmaster and I both thought you'd like to have this. Reaching into her cloak she pulled out a little stick that she put in Harry's palm.

Hope sprung to his face as she enlarged the shrunken object. "Yes!" leapt from his lips as his Firebolt materialized in his hand.

"And Mr. Potter." Harry's attention moved from his broom back to his head-of-house. "I've grown accustomed to the Quidditch cup sitting in my office lately, so I expect you to make full use of that broom this year to make sure it stays in my office."

"I can play again?"

"Of course, Mr. Potter. All those silly decrees left with that vile woman." McGonagall looked even more disapproving than ever at the thought of Dolores Umbridge.

Harry looked over to Ron and saw him with a happy look, probably already thinking about the first game. "Let's go eat," his friend said.

Before he could get up, he heard "One more" in his ear and turning he came nose to nose with Ginny, who was bending down and trying to put a present in his hands. As they looked at each other from inches away, she seemed to have trouble getting it into his hands and he was having trouble grabbing it, as neither broke eye contact. Somehow the present found its place and she stood back up looking a bit shy.

Opening the present, he saw another scrapbook looking volume, but it was leather bound with a clasp over it. He looked up at her.

"It's a journal. I've got one like it and it's helped me to write things down in it, to sort of get them off my mind. I thought it might be helpful to you too in dealing with things."

He looked at her in surprise as this was the second time today she had said or done something that hit home with him, and he sensed an understanding from the girl who had been possessed by Tom Riddle. "Thank you," he told her very sincerely.

"The instructions are on the inside cover, but once you make it yours, no one else can open it."

Again he told her "Thanks". Hermione and Tonks were watching the scene with great interest; Mrs. Weasley was too, but with more disapproving thoughts in mind.

"Can we eat now?" Ron complained again. That made everyone laugh and start moving into the dining room. Professor McGonagall made her leave, but everyone else stayed for dinner.

The four teenagers and the twins spent most of the evening playing exploding snap; the rest of the adults sat around the living room talking about various topics. Harry decided this had to be one of the best days of his summer.

As it neared eleven, Mrs. Weasley began shooing the kids upstairs and the rest of the guests started to leave. Tonks' comment almost forgotten, he barely remembered to pull her aside before she left for home.

"Tonks, you said you'd tell me about the books?"

"Oh right; hold a sec." She turned around and almost tripped over her feet and fell. Fortunately Harry caught her arm. "Thanks Harry," then "Hey Remus, come here."

When the werewolf joined them, Tonks took a deep breath and launched in. "Knowing what you need to do, I decided you needed as much information as you can get. As you'll find out when you look, most of those books are on Defense, or otherwise Dark Art related - two sides of the same coin you understand." Harry nodded. "Remus bought a few of the books, but most of them came from Sirius's library." Harry's face fell at the sound of the name. "You need this information Harry, and we decided to spare you the difficult feeling of having to go over to that house for awhile."

Though Harry was looking down at the floor, he nodded in understanding. "Thanks." It was flat sounding but he did mean it. "I know it'll get better in time, and I do really appreciate the gift as well as not having to go over there yet."

Tonks looked at him with great concern. "You going to be all right?"

He thought about that and with a very small smile he said, "Moony says I will be one day."

"That's the spirit, Harry," Remus told him.

Harry bid them goodnight and went upstairs to join Ron in his bedroom. They talked for a few minutes before turning out the light and going to sleep.

* * *

.


	5. Friends

Version: 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

**Chapter 5: Friends**

Even after the wonderful day with his friends and the party, Harry visited the Department of Mysteries again in his sleep. Instead of Sirius falling through the veil, it was Ginny this time. He must not have screamed for Ron was still lightly snoring away as he awoke with a start. Grabbing his glasses and robe, he went to the bathroom to wash his face. Not wanting to go right back to sleep, he went downstairs.

He was surprised to see a lamp burning on low and a red headed girl sitting on the couch staring at an unlit fireplace.

"Ginny?" he spoke softly and tentatively.

The head snapped up and looked at him. It was not a happy face. "Harry, what are you doing up?"

"Nightmare, and you?"

She was quiet for a few seconds, so he sat down on the other end of the couch taking up one seat and leaving an empty seat between them. "I was back in the chamber again. The first time I've done that in a month. You?"

"I was back in the Department of Mysteries." He didn't want to mention it was her who had died. "Happens most nights for me."

A nod was her initial reply. "I've always tried to stay up for awhile, write in my journal, or something, before I go back to bed. Didn't feel like writing tonight."

Harry watched her watching the unlit fireplace, sitting with her knees up to her chest and arms wrapped around them as if wanting to become the smallest size she could become. "Ginny, what's it like growing up with a family, especially a large family?"

Ginny had been somewhat lost in her thoughts, talking to him with only half her brain engaged, but that out of the blue question grabbed her full attention. Slowly she turned her head and looked at him. His look was quite intense; she couldn't for the life of her understand why he would ask that. "It's usually good, why do you ask?"

"I just want to know what it's like. Tell me about it, tell me about your family and your childhood." There was something in his voice that tugged at her heart. She couldn't name the feeling though.

"The obvious first impression I can remember is busy; but when you're the seventh child I suppose that's natural. I was never alone, there was always someone around to pick me up or do something with, though sometimes it was only because mum made them." She rambled on for the next half hour. The most amazing thing was that he never interrupted her and kept his piercing gaze on her soaking up everything she said. She was fully awake now and part of her brain jumped to the thought that this was a perfect example of the saying "a captive audience".

As she wound down the highlights, she asked him. "What was you childhood like?"

Thinking back through her memories, she could not ever remember him talking about his childhood in any great detail. There had been a few details here or there from Ron and maybe a passing remark from Hermione, but never from him to her.

His face changed from rapt attentiveness to complete downcast in the blink of an eye. He looked down from her to the empty cushion between them. That really got her curiosity up. After what seemed a long enough pause that she was wondering if she'd ever get an answer, he mumbled, "Not much to tell." With a very soft voice he continued. "I grew up in a Muggle family who didn't like magic. Getting my Hogwarts letter was the first time I even knew about magic." That hit Ginny's sympathy button, but she stayed quiet as he went on. "Though it's hard in the Wizarding world at times, it's been the best thing that's ever happened to me."

That was a confusing statement she thought. She was about to ask him what he meant when he asked her, "What's it like being the youngest?" Mentally shrugging at the topic change back to her, she tried to tell him more of life from her point of view. She was somewhat spoiled when she was younger, what with being the only daughter too. Of course in this house, since they never had much, no one could stay spoiled; there were too many chores to do, too many jokes being played. She went on for a bit. Harry was again watching her with concentration she noticed. The analytical part of her kicked in again and wondered why this mundane detail about her and her family was so interesting to him. She did enjoy the attention, and she also realized this was probably the first conversation the two of them had ever had of just talking about stuff uninterrupted. Here was a boy who wanted to just talk. She liked that too.

She ended up this long explanation about her life with, "Of course, not everything is a bed of roses here; I've had some good rows. Considering we're all red heads with a temper to match, I supposed a _good row_ is something of an understatement," she ended with a soft chuckle.

For the first time in their conversation, a smile appeared on his lips. "Like what? It seems too wonderful here." Her shocked look must have been noticeable because of his question. "Yeah, I know no one's perfect and disagreements will happen, but a _good row_?"

Thinking about what she'd said earlier, she supposed she had painted a pretty rosy picture of things. "Would you like to know about my last _good row_?" He nodded. "OK, but remember you asked." He briefly gave her that little smile again.

"It was maybe three weeks ago?" she turned her head a little and looked up as if searching the ceiling. "Yeah, that's about right; anyway it was the four of us having dinner. Everything was normal until Ron mentioned going to the Cannons game with Bill. I of course said I'd like to go too, not knowing that Bill was given only two tickets from a friend. If someone had told me that, nothing would have happened." A sigh escaped her as she mentally played "what if". Harry hung on during the short pause.

"But no one did. Instead, mum tells me it doesn't matter; I don't need to go anyway. Ooh," exasperation was now in her voice, "that was the wrong thing to say to me; still, a part of me wondered if maybe I'd just misheard her. So I asked her why. She had the stupidity to tell me it was because I was too young." Ginny's voice was starting to rise as she relived the moment and got caught back up in the emotion.

Realizing that, she tried to get softer again. "That really set me off let me tell you. I can't remember everything I said to her I was so hot, but I do remember both of us shouting by the time we were done. Ron had wisely left the room, though I think he was standing around the corner so he could hear but not be the target of any comments. Dad just sat there and watched; he couldn't do much else until we wound down." She paused again and shook her head at it all.

"Harry, I did my best to be logical about it all. I pointed out I'm almost fifteen. She was married almost on the day she was eighteen with a baby on the way shortly thereafter. I played on the Quidditch team last year. I can hold my own in tussles with my brothers. I am not a little girl any more. I swear, I wanted to scream that little girls don't have..." Ginny thought about what she had almost said and turned red, but went on with only slightly different wording, "...curves and other things," she went on skipping only one beat in her tirade. Harry didn't react, he was watching and listening.

"Dad finally stepped in. He told me he'd ask Bill about the tickets, but it was possible he only had two; and while he knew Bill loved his sister, Ron was a Cannons fanatic. Dad, he always seems to know what to say, at least if you'll give him a little time to think about it. Then he turned to Mum, and I swear this doesn't happen often, but he stopped her with one statement and a question. He looked her in the eye and said, 'Molly, I know Ginny likes her pony tail, it's only practical considering her beautiful hair, but she looks like a young lady to me.' Mum took a breath to argue when Dad hit her with the question. 'When does she stop being a little girl to you and get to do young lady things?' Mum let her breath out and just sat there. I decided that was a good time to leave and did." Ginny stopped, but Harry still didn't say anything.

"It's been getting a little better between us day by day, but I still don't think she's letting me grow up in her mind. She's putting it off again." She sighed and paused again. "So you see Harry, life is not always good here."

Harry seemed to nod in acknowledgement, but his face didn't totally agree she could tell. "Still, she cares for you." That came out almost wistfully Ginny thought. Again Ginny wondered about him.

"Yes, she does. I do wish she was a bit more, uh, grown up about it though." They both chuckled softly, though Harry's turned into a yawn.

"I better go back to bed." She nodded in agreement. "And thanks Ginny."

"For what, telling a few stories?"

"Yeah, and for sharing. I, err," now Harry seemed to go bashful, or so it seemed to Ginny, "I've never really talked to a girl like this before."

That was a surprise. The Harry Potter had never had a normal conversation with a girl? "What about with Hermione?"

"Not like this, not just talking." He stopped in what almost sounded like mid-thought. Then looking back at her, he gave her a simple, "Good-night," before he got up and left.

Ginny wasn't sure what to make of all this. In some ways it created more questions about Harry for her then answers. Giving him a minute to go up, she got up to go to bed too. Still not quite tired, she suddenly felt a journal entry was in order.

* * *

When Ginny awoke the next morning, Hermione was already gone. She could tell it wasn't that late though. Getting up and grabbing her clothes, she headed for the bathroom to take a shower and saw Harry coming up the stairs in a T-Shirt and shorts both with sweat streaks.

"You're up early," she commented.

"Doing my exercises. Tonks got me started, and said I should add running when I got here, so I've been up and down your road a few times."

As they were nearly half a mile from the main road to town, Ginny was impressed. A fun thought came to her. "You should talk to Ron about joining you, Hermione would like that."

Harry gave her his melting smile, "Could, but what about me? Does anyone appreciate the work I put in?"

Her face changed color to almost match her hair. She'd really jumped in it with both feet this time; and he continued to stand there waiting for an answer. Squeaking out a "Yes", she all but ran for the bathroom.

Harry watched her blush to his comment. He wasn't sure what had made him say that, but her reaction was most interesting. Chuckling to himself, he went into his room to find Ron still asleep. Knowing he'd have to wait a bit for the shower, he picked up his book again and started on the next section.

Mrs. Weasley's breakfasts rivaled the ones at Hogwarts, Harry thought as he sat down. When Ron joined the other three of them a few minutes later, Mrs. Weasley assigned chores for the morning. The girls were to see to the garden and the boys were to take care of the upstairs bathroom. Ron groaned at that, but Harry nodded at her and grabbed another piece of toast and the marmalade.

They had all finished eating and were just chatting when Mrs. Weasley came back in. That caused them all to get up and take their dishes to the sink then clean up the table under a matronly smile.

Ginny grabbed two hand baskets, handing one to Hermione, the two of them walked out the back door.

"I saw you with your lit wand writing in your journal late last night. Couldn't sleep?" Hermione inquired.

Ginny concentrated on the question and not what she had been writing about, or rather who and conversation they'd had. "Yes and no. Bad dream woke me up, then I needed to get something off my mind so I wrote awhile." She completely left out the downstairs part, and her friend was apparently none the wiser.

"I thought you were over those."

"Mostly." Then Ginny admitted, "They still come from time to time." They were almost to the garden. "Not as bad as Harry I would imagine." Hermione looked at her strangely. "You would know better than I how many nightmares he has to choose from since you were there for most of them; at least I only have the one."

"You were there for the last one too Ginny."

"Yeah, but it doesn't really bother me for some reason." With unsaid agreement, they each took a row to go down and pick the ripe vegetables. As she was bending down to check out the peas, Ginny decided she needed more information. "Hermione, do you know what Harry's childhood was like, I mean, really like? I've never heard him speak two sentences at a time on it."

That got an unusual stare from her friend. "Why?"

With all the casualness she could manage, Ginny explained. "I was wondering what in his childhood happened that causes him to do some of the things he does. Some things about him come from Hogwarts and his friends there, but others he must have brought with him." She hoped that was vague enough to avoid suspicion from her friend.

Hermione didn't answer immediately; she inspected a tomato vine instead. "Harry doesn't speak of his childhood often. I've had to listen very carefully to how he talks about it and to read between the lines, so I'm still having to guess. The short version is that it was really hard on him, Ginny."

"I know he grew up with Muggles that didn't like magic, then to suddenly find out there's a part of your being that's been ignored, well, that must have been traumatic."

"That is true," Hermione agreed, "but that wasn't what I meant." Ginny looked up from the carrots with a puzzled look, what could be worse she wondered. The older girl picked the last ripe tomato from that vine and carefully put it in the basket before continuing very softly. "I mean he was essentially abused, Ginny." Ginny looked horrified. "Yes, he doesn't mention it, but I'm almost certain his uncle used to hit him. I've heard him talk about his cousin beating him up so he could take something from Harry, for the few times Harry ever got anything nice. I'm sure the things all three of them said to him would reduce me to tears. Except for this year, you've seen how he is after every summer when he comes here or back to school, how thin he is. I don't think his Aunt feeds him very much either."

Ginny hung her head at the imagined scenes playing through her head. She wanted to cry for his difficult times.

"I'm reasonably sure he has a bedroom now, but he once mentioned he lived in a cupboard under the stairs when he was little."

Now Ginny was turning angry. No little boy deserved all that. Bat bogeys weren't good enough for his relatives; perhaps she could do elephant bogeys. Then she felt a hand on her arm and looked up and saw a sad but concerned face.

"I know Ginny, I cried about it myself when I figured it out. It's so unfair for all that to happen to one of the nicest people I know. He's almost like a brother to me, I sort of think of him like that with him being an orphan." Hermione saw her friend nod but the fire hadn't left her expression. "But now that you know Ginny, you can't let him know this feeling you have right now." That confused the red head. "Use the knowledge to understand him, to help him; but never ever pity him. If you pity him, the tirades you saw him have last year about Umbridge would be considered small." Ginny's eyes widened at that thought because Harry had had a few spectacular outbursts. Hermione nodded understanding Ginny's unspoken thought, then let go of her friend's arm to check out the cucumbers.

Ginny carefully poked a finger into the ground to see if the radishes were ready while she considered what her friend had told her. That explained last night so much, and his like of The Burrow. Harry was desperate for a family. She moved to the lettuce, which wasn't ready yet, but she slowly looked anyway. "How do you do it, Hermione? I don't know that I can look at him the same way again."

The brunette gave her a small sad smile. "I try not to focus on the past, but instead try to focus on the friend currently with me, and on the person he's becoming. The past is helpful to understand the present, but it's not the place to live." Ginny thought about that statement, and Harry, as she went down the last row. "Do you think he's ever known love?"

Hermione considered the question. "As you or I have had from our families? No, at least not that he can remember. I'm sure his parents did before they were killed, but not his Aunt and Uncle. I think that's at least partly why he has such trouble with girls."

Ginny thought that explained a few more things too, at least for Harry. Ron had no excuse though.

As they finished and slowly started walking back toward the house, Hermione spoke a bit hesitantly. "Ginny, is there something going on between you and Harry?"

Ginny shot her a "What?" look, which was its own kind of answer to Hermione. "No, not really; I don't think anything's changed; just friends."

It was said a bit hurriedly, but with a straight face. Hermione didn't totally believe her. "What's happening with Dean Thomas?"

There was hesitation with this answer. "We're good friends; and writing each other about becoming friendlier." Ginny gave her friend a smug smile with that, but Hermione wasn't buying it.

"And if you had to choose between Harry and Dean?"

Ginny was saved from answering by their arrival at the house, but both of them knew what the answer was. Molly started the girls on cleaning the vegetables and putting them away.

— — —

While the girls headed outside, the boys trudged up to the bathroom. With four teenagers using it, it was a mess. "I hate doing the bathroom," Ron announced.

Harry shrugged; he was used to doing cleaning at the Dursleys. Looking around he said, "I think the tub is equal to the sink and the toilet; which do you want?"

Ron grinned and said, "I hate the toilet the worst, I'll take the tub."

Harry didn't really care. He took a rag and cleaner from Ron and started on the sink. He decided this was as good a time as any to talk to Ron about something that had been on his mind all through breakfast. "Got any plans for who you're going to ask on the Hogsmeade trips?"

Ron dropped the bottle of cleaner and had to quickly grab and upright it before too much went down the drain. "Why does that matter now?" He looked at Harry like he was going mental.

"Planning ahead Ron, that's all."

"For what?"

"Remember the Yule Ball in our fourth year?"

"Who could forget." Ron looked like he'd swallowed something retched.

"I don't want that to happen again. Maybe ask someone out early in the year when the other blokes aren't thinking about it; before all the good ones are taken you know?" Harry thought that didn't sound too bad; his friend was a bit slow in moving where girls where concerned.

"Why not just wait and see who shows interest?"

Harry was trying to be patient, but damn, Ron was thick sometimes. "Look, I don't know about you, but I've finally realized I need all the help I can get. Unlike you, I don't have a sister and don't really understand how girls think."

"Having a sister wouldn't help you with that one, mate."

Harry thought he saw an opening. "I know Hermione has tried and the explanations didn't go so well. Maybe I need someone like Ginny to explain it to me. Do you think she'd do that?"

"I don't know, I guess you'd have to ask her."

This was going much better than Harry had expected. He finished the sink and grabbed the brush for the toilet; he wondered if he'd need it to defend himself from Ron after the next question. "So, you wouldn't have a problem if I asked her to help me with girls? And, uh, asked her out?"

Ron ceased scrubbing and stood up to look at his dark haired friend. Harry also just stood there. Each boy looking at the other's neutral expression. Finally Ron broke the stare. "Yeah, I guess I'd be OK with that. I trust you with her, but even so, don't you dare hurt her."

Harry took in the serious look. "Never." Ron nodded his acceptance and turned back to the half done tub. Harry started scrubbing the inside of the toilet. "So, got anyone you fancy?"

The red headed boy didn't stop scrubbing this time, but he took his time to answer. "Not sure."

Wanting to help his friend, well both of them, Harry decided to go for it. "What about Hermione?"

There was no hesitation in the answer this time. "What about her?"

Harry smiled at the toilet since Ron wouldn't look up from the tub. "I'm only a bloke, but I think she might like you."

A very bitter, "What would she see in me?" came out.

Harry considered how to respond to that. There were several ways, but caution was required. "She must see something good, I've seen her look at you when she thought you weren't looking at her." Ron didn't say anything. "Maybe you should ask her out Ron."

An "Harrumph" was the answer for that. Harry finished the toilet and looked around. A spotted mirror looked back at him. He grabbed another rag for that. The silence had gone on long enough that Harry felt he could safely change the topic. "Who are the new people that you think will make the Quidditch team this year?"

Ron seemed happier for the new subject and was soon his normal sounding self.

* * *

As the teens were finishing lunch, Ron still pumped from his discussion with Harry had a suggestion. "Why don't we play Quidditch this afternoon?"

"Ron," his little sister said with exasperation, "that's not fair to Hermione. You know she doesn't like to play."

Whatever Hermione was about to say was lost as Harry jumped into the conversation. "That's not a problem. Hermione, I can give you a quick flying lesson, then we can play two on two. You can be a Keeper which will make it easier on you."

"But Harry," she started to object.

"Really Hermione," Harry overrode her objection, "surely you, as the smartest witch in our class, know that even if you don't like flying, it is a very useful skill to have."

Hermione didn't know what to say and just looked at him like he'd lost his mind. Ron was practically open mouthed at his friend's comment, and lack of comment from his other friend. On the other hand, Ginny was pressing her hand to her mouth hard to keep from making a sound, though her body seemed to shake anyway.

When she didn't say anything, Harry took that for a positive response and stood up with his empty plate. "Right then, let me go up and get my broom. Ron get her the most stable broom in the shed." He left to take his plate to the kitchen.

With his Firebolt in hand, Harry met his friends outside. "You guys go warm up," he told the two red heads, "we'll join you in about fifteen minutes." As the two left, Harry put his broom on the ground and faced an unusually quiet Hermione.

"Now, what gives you the hardest time: the speed, heights, maybe hair in the face?" He'd had added the last one because he'd seen Ginny pull a ribbon out of her pocket to pull her hair into a pony-tail as she walked away.

"All?" She seemed almost scared, but didn't back down either. She was barely hanging on by her Gryffindor spirit.

"Hmm, right, a little at a time then." Harry thought about this. "I have an idea, let's fly together for a minute, simple straight line flying, then I'll ask again." He took the broom from her hand and mounted it, and indicated she should get on behind him. After a pause and a big breath, she swung her leg over and sat down behind him. "Now, you can hold onto my shoulders, or my waist, but don't bury you head in my back. You need to be able to look around. I won't do anything fancy, just simple flying. Ready?" He didn't hear anything, but felt her arms come around his stomach and hold tightly.

Kicking off slowly, he only took them to about six feet off the ground and indeed went very slowly in a straight line, stopped, then pivoted in the air and came back. Stopping and hovering, but not landing, he turned his head to look at her as best he could. "How was that?"

He received a shaky, "OK".

"Hold on he told her, I'm going to change to the height we play at." He started forward and up to about twenty feet, same easy speed and path. She was fine with that. He continued on, slowly adding a little speed, some "S" turns, and more stops and starts. After nearly ten minutes, he landed back by his broomstick.

"How was that Hermione? Is flying still bad?"

"That was all right after a few minutes. You make it easy Harry; and thank you for not doing what you do in a real game. I think that's part of my problem; I see someone like you do all that and I know I could never do it."

A thoughtful look came upon Harry as he considered how to say what she needed to hear. "You do know don't you, that if you develop the skills we just did in the last ten minutes or so, you'll be a good flyer. The high speeds I go, and fancy tricks are partially because I enjoy doing it; but also partially because a Seeker has to do that. You don't need to be a Seeker, Hermione, just a skilled flyer. I know Ron likes to do some tricks now and then, but watch him when he plays." He smiled to himself because he knew she already did. "He only does basic flying like what we just did; he makes it look easy because of practice, and that's all you need really." He hoped that would build her confidence.

She looked at him a little differently now, but he could see her thinking about what he'd said. "Ready to try on your own now? I'll fly right beside you."

Some of the fear returned to Hermione's face, but she nodded and mounted the broom. Harry held out his hand and his broom jumped to it and he mounted it. "Low and slow, OK?" They did the basic circuit, and then built on that for another ten minutes. At the end, Hermione wasn't great, but she had achieved some real confidence for the first time. They flew down to the play area where Ron and Ginny were tossing an old Quaffle.

"Ready guys?" Harry called.

"Sure, but what are the teams? I can't figure out anything that would be fair for everyone," Ron commented.

"How about brother and sister teams?" Harry suggested. "Hermione is like a sister to me, and that will make it more fair because my Firebolt makes it unfair for Ginny."

"What do you mean unfair, Potter?" Ginny sounded a bit indignant.

"Only that my Firebolt does go faster, and I have a bit more flying experience as far as school games, so I have an unfair advantage over you."

"I don't think so, Potter, you couldn't out fly me if you had to. I've been flying since I was six, and you've never played Chaser before." Ginny's temper was building.

"I'm sorry, Ginny, I'm not trying to say anything bad; but that seems to me the best way to make the teams fair for both sides." Harry tried to bring the tension down, but couldn't help adding that last bit about fairness again. He didn't know why he did it, but it was fun baiting her like this.

"You can't handle my flying, Potter," Ginny told him with more intensity.

"You don't think so? I bet I can handle you easily all by myself." Harry purposely put a smug look on his face knowing what it would do to her.

"Alright then," she was in full fury. "First team with twenty-five goals wins."

"Fine," Harry told her nonchalantly. "You can even start off with the Quaffle." His noble gesture was not lost on her and only fueled her fire. Harry finally took his focus from the fiery red head, who he'd decided was cute when she was like this, and looked at his best male friend, who seemed to be afraid for Harry.

Turning to his teammate, Hermione had a most comical look on her face. As they walked back to their goal to get ready to start, she whispered, "You enjoyed that, didn't you?"

Harry felt a smile struggling to get out, and finally let a little of it show. "Actually I did. I have no idea why I did it, but it was fun." Hermione giggled at him. "Now, Ginny is going to come out fighting. I'm going to try to fluster her a bit, but she's going to come at you. Remember this is only a game for fun, I don't care if we lose, though I'm going to try to make sure we don't. Block with arms, legs, and your broom as best you can. She's going to score on you, but don't worry about it. When you can, catch the Quaffle and toss it to me in a way she can't intercept it, I'll take it from there. I know a few tricks to get by Ron. OK?"

"That's a lot to do Harry."

"Not really, it's easy when you get the feel for it. Oh yeah, this game is all about instincts, she's going to try to trick you. Do what your instinct tells you, not necessarily what your analytical brain tells you. You can do this Hermione."

"Hey Potter, losing your nerve?" taunted Ginny.

"Just do your best Hermione." Turning around and mounting his broom, he called back with a grin. "No, just explaining to my teammate why you're going to lose."

"Potter, you asked for this!" With Quaffle in hand, she started flying toward him. Harry acted as an extra Keeper and did manage to get a hand on the ball as it was tossed. Using his broom's greater speed, he picked it up on the bounce and flew around Ginny. As he got to Ron, he faked twice and then threw. Ron fell for the second fake and Harry's team was up 1-0.

Sure enough, Ginny scored almost every time she threw the Quaffle at the ring and it was only Hermione there, but Harry was there more often then Ginny could help Ron. Harry was also better at stealing the passes from Ron to Ginny, than Ginny was at stealing passes from Hermione to Harry. The game was one of the fastest and most furious of all the pick-up games Harry had ever played. Ginny was going all out and was making him work hard.

Near the end of the game, Ginny had the Quaffle and went streaking down the pitch with Harry behind her. Sensing an easy goal, she shot the ball only to have it go off target because Harry had bumped into her. The result was an easy catch for Hermione. Harry dropped straight down several feet and zoomed under Ginny and went by Hermione to catch the throw from his teammate. Laying flat on his broomstick for maximum acceleration and speed, he zipped to the other end of the field and did a high-speed turn around the ring like he had seen the girls at school do, which Ron wasn't expecting, and scored from the other direction, making it 25-19.

Going up and doing a barrel roll as he crossed the field, Harry landed by Hermione at the bottom of their ring and they hugged in celebration. "See Hermione, I knew you could do it!"

"I wasn't very good, I let most of them through."

"So what. You flew as a Keeper. Not falling off your broom is always a good thing!" They laughed together.

Ron came over. "Good game you two. Harry, have you ever thought about being a Chaser?" Harry laughed.

Ginny slowly came over and grudgingly held out her hand to Harry. "Good game Potter." He shook it and nodded as he told her thanks. "You really are better," she paused and then added, "at least for this game."

Harry smiled at her while Ron added "Why do you think he's the youngest Seeker in a century?"

"You know Ginny," Harry did his best to sound good natured, "you're quite good yourself. If you had a Firebolt too; it would have been a very tight match." Genuine appreciation spread over her face at that comment.

"Let's go see if dinner is ready," Ron called. The other three chuckled and they all headed back to the house.

* * *

.


	6. Decisions

Version: 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

(A/N: This was one of the points the story was trying to get to when I originally wrote the story. There are a few others.)

* * *

**Chapter 6: Decisions**

When the foursome arrived back at the house, Mrs. Weasley was indeed starting dinner. She made her usual choice of pulling the two girls to the kitchen to help her, and sending the boys to prepare the table and then to clean it off after dinner. However, Harry had a different idea for this evening.

"Mrs. Weasley," he got her attention, "do you mind if I help in the kitchen instead of Hermione? Aunt Petunia makes me cook at home, but it's the same stuff over and over. I'd like to learn something new."

A surprised look crossed the older woman's face, but she told him, "Of course, Harry. Hermione do you mind working with Ron?" The brunette didn't mind at all, and gave Harry a smile which he returned.

Ginny wondered why he was really there, but he did pay attention to what was going on with preparing the food. He was frequently helping her, yet he wasn't really crowding her either. She decided her mind was playing tricks on her.

After dinner while Ron and Hermione cleaned up, Harry suggested a game of chess in the Living Room. Again, Ginny wondered if there were other motives, but her dad was there reading the paper, and her mum came in later. Harry's behavior never changed, though he was friendly; he wasn't overly talkative either.

When the other two joined them, they played Gobstones for the rest of the evening, when they weren't talking. It was an easy evening until Mrs. Weasley determined it was time for she and Arthur to go to bed, and the teens had to go to their rooms too.

Harry changed into only a pair of exercise shorts when he got to his room and started on his nightly routine of push-ups, sit-ups, and squats. Ron watched in amazement and questioned why he did it. Harry gave him the answer Tonks gave him, and then asked Ron if he'd like to do it too. Ron politely declined.

Ginny went into her bedroom and flopped down on her bed. Laying on her stomach and chin in her hands, she looked up at Hermione as she closed the door and sat on her bed.

"I don't know about you, but I'm tired," the brunette said. "That game this afternoon wore me out."

"You did quite well Hermione. I wasn't sure what was going to happen since you don't normally play, but I've got to admit you showed a lot of courage doing so."

The older girl blushed a bit. "Thanks Ginny. I really didn't think I could do it, but it wasn't so bad after awhile. I know Harry told me I did a good job when I know I didn't, but I did have fun trying."

"I'm glad then. Maybe you can play some more, you will get better the more you practice."

"It could be a fun way to spend time with everyone occasionally." Then a big smile crossed her face. "By the way, what happened between you and Harry? I thought it was going to be a full blown fight ending in bat bogeys."

Ginny groaned and dropped her face into the bed for a moment before rising back up to answer. "Honestly Hermione, I don't know what came over me. It was like when my brothers used to tell me I couldn't do something, that'd always set me off. But this time it was Harry telling me I couldn't do something. He kept going on about fairness and I couldn't stop the responses." She dropped her face back into the bed and gave a little scream of frustration into the covers before raising herself back up with a smile on her face. "You know, we were sort of acting like you and Ron in one of your rows," she said impishly.

"We're not like that!" Hermione argued.

"Are too!" Ginny grabbed her pillow and threw it at her friend. The pillow fight lasted for several minutes until they both collapsed from laughter and then went to bed.

A couple of hours later, Ginny awakened. She didn't know why at first, and then her senses told her there was something not quite right in the house. A noise on the stairs confirmed her suspicions. Quickly and silently getting out of bed, she grabbed her robe and her wand and left her room, closing the door behind her. As she got to the bottom of the stairs, she saw a light come on in the living room. The oil lamp was on low again. She silently padded in there on her bare feet and looked to the couch. There was Harry making himself comfortable and looking into the empty fireplace.

She walked in and sat at the other end of the couch, side-ways facing him with her legs crossed and pulled up under her old robe. "Nightmare?"

"Yeah."

"Which one?"

"Are you sure you want to know?"

She sucked her breath in at what he was implying, but she nodded yes anyway.

"I was fighting the Basilisk." She held her breath as he talked. "Only this time I didn't win. I'm amazed I didn't wake Ron."

That's what had awakened her, but she wasn't going to tell him that. She didn't want to hear this, but perhaps he needed to say it. "Want to talk about it?"

He didn't say anything for a minute. "No, not really. It's not fun when you don't win."

Part of her really didn't want to hear this either, but perhaps for the greater good. "Tell the version where you won. I don't think I've ever heard the whole story from your point of view."

That got his attention and he looked at her carefully and saw fear in her face. Seeing her feelings and yet she'd asked anyway increased his respect for her. "You sure?" She nodded.

So Harry told her from the point of going into Myrtle's bathroom and opening the Chamber for the first time, with Ron and Lockhart there. What happened after going down and him going on alone and finding her. He even told her how scared he was for her when he first saw her and didn't want her to die. Then there was the fight with the Basilisk and Fawkes coming to help, all the while the specter of Tom Riddle was there. He ended with stabbing the diary and how glad he was to see her wake up. It was very emotional for him.

This time it was Ginny's turn to stare in rapt attention. She'd heard some of it immediately after she'd been rescued, and a bit more from Ron later, but not all of it together. She decided it was a good thing she hadn't heard all of this back then. If she thought her crush was bad before, this started giving her a case of hero worship. And yet, he sat there more little boy then man while telling it. He didn't boast or brag, and she could tell how deeply it had affected him. Though in a very different way, that year seemed to have affected him almost as much as the diary affected her.

Silence filled the room as he finished and she contemplated him and their shared experience. "I'm so sorry, Harry. I'm sorry I wrote in the diary. I'm sorry that I threw it away where you found it. I'm so sorry you had to take on Tom Riddle and that horrid snake. I'm sorry you had to risk yourself to save me."

Harry had looked up when she started her "I'm sorry" rant. He was dumbfounded that she thought it was all her fault. He wanted to take her in his arms and comfort her, but he couldn't do that. "It's OK Ginny. How could you have known?"

"I know, that's what every one tells me; but that doesn't remove all the guilt I feel anyway. You know what hurts the worst though?" He shook his head no. "It's all the evil things he put in my head. I know about curses, how to hurt people, the Dark Arts, or at least portions of it that he knew just before he turned seventeen."

Harry's eyes were wide. "I never thought about that aspect. Oh god Ginny, I'm so sorry for you."

"I'd give this up in a heartbeat to have skipped the whole experience, but there is one good thing that came from it." Harry tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. "Since I do have that knowledge from him, I know things others my age don't. My classes are a lot easier, and will be easier until near the end of my sixth year." Now both of Harry's eyebrows shot up. "That's why I do so well with my studies; I only have to fill in some gaps. The only hard part is all the boring homework, the zillions of essays. I get full marks on most all of them because I already know large parts of it all."

"That's, that's amazing!"

"And our secret?"

He looked at her for a moment before he caught on. "Oh yeah, sure. No one needs to know."

She smiled at him. It was nice to share this with him finally. It wasn't nearly as bad as she had feared. "Of course there was a second good thing..."

"What?"

"I got to be rescued by you." She gave him a devilish smile and laugh. Harry just blushed. "Feeling better?"

"Some," he told her.

"Are your nightmares in general getting better, less I mean?"

How does one rate nightmares? "I guess they're getting a little less intense, but I'm still having them about every night," he finally admitted.

"Used your journal yet?"

"No. I've personalized it, but I haven't had time to write yet."

She smiled at him. "Go write something in it now. You can do _Lumos_ you know and not get into trouble with the restriction on underage magic. Have you ever thought about why that is?"

"Uh, no, I guess I haven't, but yeah, you're right, I have done it a few times. I thought they were being nice to me."

"Could be," but her tone didn't sound like she really agreed. "I think it's so low powered, it falls beneath their ability to detect it. Makes you wonder what else is like that. Anyway, go write something, see if it helps. Sweet dreams Harry."

He watched her unfold herself from the couch and leave. Maybe she was right he considered, so he got up too and after turning off the lamp, he went up and wrote in his journal. He wrote about Ginny's "I'm sorries" and how she was wrong. It was Tom Riddle's fault. That got him thinking about his situations. So often he mentally took the blame for it all on himself; was that the right thing to do? He closed the journal and thought about that as he went to sleep.

* * *

Saturday morning, Mrs. Weasley continued her practice of giving out chores in the morning and mostly letting the teens have the afternoons to themselves. Ginny would have sworn that Harry made sure he was always partnered with her, but she couldn't ever catch him actively doing anything. She enjoyed his presence, but her curiosity was up.

Bedtime came, and went, and Ginny was still awake though Hermione was breathing deeply with a slight wheeze. She knew what was bothering her, but didn't know how to deal with it. Finally she couldn't take it any more and picked up the stack of letters and went downstairs to her spot on the couch. Starting at the beginning, she skimmed through the four letters from Dean. One thing that caught her eye she hadn't really noticed before, was that while he expressed interest in her, he had been as non-committal as she had been. What was she going to do? How did she really feel? Deep down she knew who she really wanted if it would only work. She was so lost in thought she didn't know Harry was there until he sat on his end of the couch. She turned her head towards him and raised an eyebrow.

"The graveyard one - in my fourth year at the end of the Tri-Wizard Tournament." Ginny nodded. She knew most of this one, but not all. "What are you doing?" he asked and pointed at the letters.

She looked at where he was pointing because she'd forgotten she'd had them in her hand. Ginny wanted to hide them so he wouldn't see, but it was too late. A memory of something Hermione said the other day unexpectedly came to mind. Maybe she needed to show another part of herself to him, the part that wants someone.

"Trying to decide what I want to do about Dean." That shocked Harry. Ginny was a little happy to see that look on his face. She wondered if he was the jealous type and if she could use that to her advantage.

Harry didn't know what to do, but playing it cool seemed like a good thing, if he could figure out what being cool was like in a situation like this. "I, uh, I thought you said on the train that you were already going out with him."

While there were several ways she could answer this, she decided that perhaps the truth would be the best way. "That was mostly a story to mess with Ron. That's a secret by the way, even if he is your best mate." Harry nodded his understanding. "Anyway, we've been writing over the summer getting to know one another. Things are progressing, but I still haven't figured out if I want to go out with him once school starts, but I've got to decide something soon. I don't want to lead him on, if you know what I mean."

Harry considered that. He didn't know girls did things like that, but considering Fred and George were her brothers, he shouldn't be overly surprised she'd try to pull one over on Ron. And when he did think back on it, she did sound a bit vague when mentioning Dean on the train. Still, this was an unexpected development; he didn't know what to do.

Harry had been silent long enough Ginny decided to go on. She wished she knew what he was thinking and feeling. "Maybe you can help me decide." She gave him a moment to say something; he didn't. "What's Dean really like? Since you've roomed with him for five years, you can tell me about him, can't you?"

Now Harry felt trapped. On the one hand, he wanted to tell her Dean is all wrong for her, that he was a better choice. On the other hand, he considered Dean his friend and he didn't really want to say bad things about him. Maybe there was a middle ground. "Uh, I'm not sure what to say. I guess he's an average bloke. I'm a guy, what do I know about these things."

"Hmm, that's not a ringing endorsement. Still, he is asking me and I've no one else asking."

Harry mind went blank. He couldn't figure out how to say what he really felt. The mantra was even gone. All that came out of him was silence.

After a few moments of looking at Harry for a response and seeing a blank look, with a hint of fear, she decided she had a little more time. She also decided it was time to be a woman. "Well, I guess I do have one more day to think about this some more and look for other options before I have to tell him yes. Good-night Harry." She picked up her letters and started off to bed, but as she passed him on the couch, she dragged her hand across his arm and shoulder to make sure he knew this was not a dream.

Harry froze at the touch and stayed where he was without moving long after he heard her go up the stairs. That was it, he could have said something and she would have been his. Damn! He'd really messed things up. No wait, she said one more day. Tomorrow, could he do it tomorrow? He fell back against the couch in feelings of helplessness. He hadn't even been able to get a single sound out, so how was he supposed to ask her out? He got up, turned off the lamp, and went to bed hoping the sky would fall and save him.

— — —

The sky did not fall during the night; it was a nice sunny morning. Harry got up and did his exercises, running and all. He kept trying to work out how to tell her how he really felt, but he kept coming up blank.

Being Sunday, Mr. Weasley didn't go to work, so it was a relaxing morning. Harry found Ginny looking at him from time to time and it scared him to the point where he wanted to run and hide. His strategy of trying to be near her was totally forgotten.

Bill and the twins came over for lunch, or brunch as the twins called it, suggesting they had stayed up very late the night before. After lunch it got a little better when Ron suggested a family game of Quidditch after he talked his father into joining. That would give them four on a team: a Keeper, a Beater, and two Chasers. The twins kidded him like he'd lost his mind as they could only count seven players. Ron told them they needed to learn how to count again because Hermione could play Keeper just fine. She rewarded him with a very nice smile, which caused him to blush and the twins to look at each other and grin with glee.

Keeping the same basic teams as before, Ron and Ginny added Fred as Beater and Bill as another Chaser. Harry and Hermione added George as their Beater and Mr. Weasley as their other Chaser. While still competitive, it was a much more friendly game, and a closer game. Ron's team came out on top 25-22. Harry had the presence of mind to at least give a small bow to Ginny in acknowledgement of her team's win. Ginny graciously returned the bow.

That evening everyone gathered in the living room and talked about the turmoil at the Ministry, how Fudge might be sacked soon. Even the teens cared and threw out theories to be discussed.

Harry was feeling almost normal when they got up to go to bed. That feeling changed when Ginny caught his eye and nodded towards the couch. Harry gulped mentally and nodded. Ginny mouthed "twelve" at him, which he noticed was in one hour. So he tried to be normal by doing his exercises then slipping into bed. While he had a herd of unicorns running through his stomach, Ron apparently had no such problems and was soon lightly snoring.

At a quarter to twelve, he couldn't take it any longer and went downstairs. He didn't light the lamp but sat in his place on the couch in the dark. It seemed safer that way for some reason. He also sat sideways on the couch with his knees up and his arms wrapped around them. The fact that this was how Ginny sat the first time he'd come down and found her went unnoticed by him.

Ginny came down at the appointed time, though it had been close as Hermione had wanted to talk and Ginny was afraid it was going to go on so long the girl wouldn't be asleep by twelve, but by Ginny feigning tiredness, Hermione had finally shut up and gone to sleep. Lighting the lamp, Ginny was surprised to find Harry already there in the dark. She couldn't decide if that was good or bad.

Sitting sideways on the couch, again cross-legged, she looked at him to gauge how to approach this. She was a bit tired of the waiting game and wanted an answer, even if it was no and try again in another year. The look on his face held sheer terror. This was going to be bad she felt.

"Hi Harry, how are you feeling?"

She got a nervous, "Fine." This was so last year. She wanted to run screaming. The confident boy of two days ago was gone. What could she do?

Then a fragment of her conversation with Hermione in the garden came to her. "Harry, we talked about families the other night. What would you say is the most important thing in a family?"

"Love." The fact there was no hesitation in his answer surprised Ginny. This must have been something he'd thought about, perhaps a lot.

"I think I'd agree. Did you know there can be other kinds of love?" This was round about, but she was feeling desperate to find out the truth and didn't think he'd answer a straight out question about how he felt about her.

Now there was hesitation from him, "Yeah, I guess."

"You guess?" Just when she thought she had him figured out, he surprised her. "How about in dating? I mean families have to come from somewhere."

"I suppose, well, if..." He trailed off, sounding lost.

She felt like she was having to pull teeth. But why an 'if'? "If what, Harry?"

"Uh, well, if, uh, they can work it out; but how does it really happen?"

Ginny couldn't decide if she was getting anywhere or not. "How does what happen, Harry?"

"How do they decide they're right for each other?"

_Surely he wasn't that clueless, was he?_ she thought. "They talk about it. How did you decide to go out with Cho last year?"

"I didn't," he looked down as he admitted it. "She asked me, and it was a disaster."

Ginny nodded. All right, this was making a bit more sense. He didn't understand love, probably not girls, and his one try in a relationship was a disaster. _Not a good choice here Weasley_, she thought, followed closely by, _but I want him so bad_. "So tell me Potter, if you fancied a girl, wouldn't you tell her so?" There, it was time for the truth.

"Uh, yeah, I guess I could, if I could figure out if she likes me; but how are guys supposed to know?"

Now Ginny wanted to bang her head on something. How many signals had she sent him? _And how many sisters does he have? And how does he define love?_ the little voice in her head asked. She couldn't decide who was thicker about girls, him or her brother. Maybe all he needed was some education; she could hope.

"Well Harry, girls can show interest in a number of ways. I'd say the more ways they show interest, or signal it, shows you how much they care. Make sense?"

"OK so far, but what kind of signals?" He sounded genuinely interested.

"Depends on the girl. For some, it's writing notes or letters. Getting dressed up for the boy can be another. Getting him things, or doing special things for him. Sometimes it's whispering in his ear, extra even senseless complements, or extra touches on the arm. Flirting comes in many forms." She stopped to try and think of some of the things she'd done to try to get his attention.

"Or doing silly things around him?" he asked.

She smiled. "Sometimes, though that's more typical of a crush than romantic desire. Looking at him a lot, and blushing when getting caught is also a sign. I've even seen fighting for no reason as a sign."

A smile came to his face for the first time tonight, "You mean like Hermione and Ron? I've always thought that was a sign between them."

Ginny gave a soft laugh, "Yes, definitely so between them."

"Between us too?"

That stopped the laugh in her throat. Oh my, that was why she was fighting with him during the Quidditch game. How could she have missed it? Ginny was speechless.

Hearing her pause as if afraid to answer like he was, Harry finally understood. He knew what he wanted, had wanted for some time if he was honest with himself. Now he just had to do it; and that triggered his mantra. _I am a Gryffindor!_ "Do, do you like me, Ginny?"

There it was, he was asking her about feelings between them. Progress at last! _Careful Weasley, keep it simple and don't spoil it._ "Yes Harry, I like you."

His heart soared, it was true then. _Wait! There was a major problem._ "What about Dean? Do you like him?"

_Damn! He wasn't supposed to think about that._ "Dean is a nice enough guy, but we don't really have anything going, so I'd prefer a nicer guy who really liked me to ask me out; I'd go out with him." If that was not enough of an invitation, she did not know what was.

What did he have to lose other than making a complete idiot out of himself? _I am a Gryffindor!_ "Would you go out with me, Ginny?" He looked her in the eyes steadily for the first time that night.

Those were the eyes she always wanted to look into. "Yes Harry." She smiled at him while her heart was turning flips. _He asked me - finally!_

She saw him lean forward and wondered if he wanted to kiss her. Then she saw his hand move and it went to the middle of the couch, palm up. Smiling, she leaned forward too and put her hand in his larger one, and she put her other hand out too. He understood and reached forward and held her other hand. She was all smiles as she said, "See, that wasn't so hard was it?"

"Other than it about killed me? No, it was easy." His grin wouldn't leave his face. She wanted to laugh at that, but didn't want to destroy his hard won confidence either.

"Now all I have to do is decide what to put in Dean's letter."

"Besides 'no'?"

"Well, it does seem polite to say a bit more than that. I mean we will see him around and you do room with him." That gave her an idea. "What would you suggest I tell him? Or if you don't know, how would you prefer to hear 'no'."

Harry thought about that. "Yeah, I can see where you should say more than 'go away'." He gave a nervous laugh, which Ginny matched with a giggle. "I guess a basic it's not working for me as well as I thought might work."

She nodded, that did sound good, a bit plain, but perhaps best. She had thought about something along those lines anyway. "One more, do I mention you?" This was one Ginny really didn't know.

Apparently Harry didn't either as he had to think about it for a while. "Yes, I think so. Dean's been there as long as I have, so he knows about you liking me before. I'd work that in, say I finally came to my senses or something."

"Thanks Harry, that helps." She pulled herself up and still holding his hands, she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. She would have really preferred a more lingering kiss, but it didn't seem like the right moment. "Good night Harry, have sweet dreams. I know I will." She slowly let go of him and again trailed her hand up his arm as she walked up to her room.

Lighting her wand, she wrote a quick letter to Dean. She'd send it off in the morning. Putting it down by the side of her bed next to her journal, which would have to wait until tomorrow for an entry about tonight, she fell into a blissful sleep.

Harry was so struck by what he had done, it took him a few minutes to start wandering back to his room. He too fell into a blissful sleep; the first night in many without a nightmare.

* * *

.


	7. News

Version: 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

**Chapter 7: News**

Ginny woke up slightly later than usual the next morning. It must not have been overly late as her mum had yet to come to get her up. She smiled to herself thinking of late last night, or really early this morning. _I'm Harry Potter's girlfriend!_ she practically sang in her head, so Hermione saw a big smile on Ginny's face when she rolled over in bed and sat up.

The sixth year girl was already dressed. She was sitting on her bed reading a book. Ginny thought she looked like she was waiting for something or guarding something. Both would have been correct if Ginny could have read the girl's mind. "Couldn't sleep last night, Ginny?" Hermione's voice sounded so innocent.

"Maybe a little at first, why?" Ginny also tried the innocent act.

"I woke up not long after I went to sleep last night and your bed was empty, and you took a long time to return, and when you did come back, there was another set of feet on the landing a couple of minutes later."

It was time to come clean; Hermione was her most supportive friend in the matter of pursuing Harry. "I was downstairs talking to Harry." Of course there was no reason not to drag it out a bit and have some fun.

"And?"

"I decided it was time I knew the truth, did he like me or was I going to have to wait another year or more on him." It was hard for Ginny to keep a straight face, all her joy wanted to burst out.

"And?" A note of exasperation was creeping into Hermione's voice.

Ginny reached down and grabbed her letter to Dean. "Read this." She handed it to her friend who snatched it out of her hand in frustration. Ginny had to purposefully keep herself from bouncing. Watching Hermione's eyes move quickly back and forth as she read the short letter helped.

"Ginny!" she squealed, "It finally happened, didn't it?"

She couldn't help it anymore; she started bouncing as she nodded yes and let her smile grow its biggest. "Harry and I are finally dating," she sighed with contentment. "And you want to know what the sticking point was?" Hermione nodded her head. "He already wanted to ask me, but he didn't know if I liked him - as if I hadn't sent enough signals. Argh!"

"So you had to explain it to him?"

"Yeah, it was basically just an education thing. Once I explained what some of the signals were, and did a little blackmail with _I've got to tell Dean something_ if only _someone else would ask me_," Hermione laughed at that, "then he asked quickly enough."

"There's one more really important thing you have to do you know."

Confused, Ginny asked, "What?"

"You've got to get Harry to pass that education along to Ron." Both girls laughed at Ron's expense.

After she was dressed, Ginny went to see Ron about borrowing Pig to send the letter to Dean. The door was open slightly, so she assumed they were up and she opened the door the rest of the way. Ron was still in bed, but Harry was standing by his trunk in his jeans and no shirt, that was being searched for. She stood in the doorway and stared, deciding she liked the new Harry in many different ways.

Ron noticed her, "What do you want, Ginny?"

Harry turned to look at her and smiled. She did her best to ignore her thoughts about Harry for a moment so she could think more clearly. "I need to borrow Pig to send a letter. Can I?"

"To send a letter to who?" Ron was not being overly cooperative.

Harry saved her. "You can borrow Hedwig. She could use the exercise, and it might help get the point of your letter across too."

She was confused for a moment before she realized he meant that Dean would recognize Hedwig. "Thank you Harry, that's a good idea."

He walked over to Hedwig's open cage and put out his hand for her to come to him. Then he held her while Ginny tied the letter on. "You better get used to her girl, she'll have other letters for you too." He stroked the soft feathers of her head. Hedwig pushed back against his hand, as if saying that was fine with her. When Ginny had finished, Harry took his owl to the window and let her go.

"What did you mean by that?" Harry had completely forgotten about Ron.

"What?"

"That Ginny will be using her to send other letters. Why would Ginny do that? There's plenty of owls at school," Ron said, pointing out the obvious.

Harry looked at Ginny to see who would tell him. Ginny smiled at her boyfriend, "Let me, I have plenty of blackmail material." Then to Ron, "Harry and I are dating."

"What?!"

"Sssh, and you will not tell Mum or Dad. We will tell them when we're ready."

"When did this happen?" her brother asked suspiciously.

"Some of us don't stay in bed as much as possible Ronald Weasley. In fact, you're lucky Mum hasn't come up to drag you out yet." With that said, she winked at Harry and threw "Breakfast Harry?" over her shoulder as she left the room.

The teens were almost finished with breakfast when four owls came through the open window, forcing everyone to grab for their juice glasses to prevent spills. Three of the owls had two envelopes each, the last had a single envelope.

"Our scores!" Hermione shrieked. They all untied their letters as quick as they could, and the room momentarily filled with owl wings again as the messengers all left. The three older students each opened the envelope with the Ministry of Magic seal first; Ginny waited on hers, she knew it was only the book list.

"Well Hermione?" Ginny asked.

"I got all ten! Eight Outstandings and two Exceeds, those were in Astronomy and Care of Magical Creatures of all things." She seemed a bit miffed at that.

"Harry?" Ginny asked.

"Ah, seven out of my nine, mostly Exceeds, except for Defense, I got an Outstanding in that." Harry noted the "E" in Potions. Only Tonks' forewarning on the changed standard kept him from getting depressed. He could still become an Auror if he wanted to.

"Obviously you got an Outstanding in Defense," Ron said and rolled his eyes too. "Seven for me too, mostly Exceeds but no Outstandings."

"Good one, Ron." Harry really meant it.

"I'm proud of you, Ron." No one had heard Mrs. Weasley come in, but the owls must have attracted her attention.

The envelopes with the Hogwarts seal on them were now opened. Hermione's and Ron's also contained a prefect badge. Harry's had no Quidditch Captain badge, but he was not surprised as he'd essentially told Tonks he didn't have time for it. Ginny also pulled out only a book list, the fact of no extra badge was not lost on her mother.

"Ginny? You didn't make prefect?" The expectation was obvious in her voice. All the heads turned to Ginny.

"There's no badge, so I guess not." The disappointment on her mum's face was obvious too. Ginny didn't seem to be too concerned though. As her mum walked away, Ginny mouthed "Later" to Harry who was still looking at her, as he knew she probably had the highest grades in her class after what she had revealed to him the other night.

Late that afternoon, it was all three of them who found out why Ginny didn't have a prefect badge when they were outside talking. "I knew that I might be picked for prefect," Ginny told them, "so I went to Professor McGonagall at the end of last term and specifically requested not to be picked. I told her that I did not feel I had time to take on the prefect duties and do as good a job with them as needed and as the younger students deserved. When my seventh year came, I'd accept Head Girl if the staff so chose, but not prefect in my OWL year. Professor McGonagall was disappointed but quite understanding, much to my surprise."

Hermione and Ron were both astounded, but Ron seemed to be the most upset. "Ginny! I can't believe you turned that down. You deserved it and should have taken it," he told his sister somewhat forcefully.

"I disagree," Harry calmly told them and surprised them with his disagreement. "While she does deserve the honor, I know her studies are important to her so she has good reasons. Besides, it's not that big a deal anyway. I mean, I would have liked to have been a prefect too, until I saw all the extra work the two of you had to do, not to mention what I had to deal with last year. So this was one of those things that looked bad at first, but turned out to be the right thing in the end, at least for me. Also, knowing how much importance Ginny places on her grades, I feel it's a good decision for her too."

"You're just saying that only because you want more time with Ginny," Ron accused him.

Harry continued to be very calm. "That will be a nice side-benefit, but I really meant what I said before in wanting Ginny to succeed at her goals, and this seems like the best decision to make that happen."

Ginny had said nothing during the argument, but only watched closely. The "new Harry" had returned and replaced the "old Harry" from the last day or so. The inconsistency in his transition would have been fascinating if it hadn't put her through the emotional ringer last night.

* * *

Tuesday morning Molly told the kids they would be going to Diagon Alley the following day, but the real surprise came when Hermione opened her copy of the Daily Prophet to see the large headline "FUDGE SACKED!" The article talked about a very long meeting of the Wizengamot yesterday that didn't end until very late in the evening. The result had been a vote of no confidence for Cornelius Fudge, followed by the appointment of Amelia Bones as Minister for Magic. It was hard to say who was the happiest about that, Harry or Hermione, each for very different reasons.

Wednesday morning, Tonks came by The Burrow to help Molly take the kids to Diagon Alley. Since she got there a little early, Tonks pulled Harry aside out onto the porch where they could talk in private.

"Harry, I have a piece of news you need to know about." Harry's look became one of concern. "It's not anything bad, but you need to know." Taking a deep breath he nodded for her to go on. "Sirius's will was opened yesterday by a solicitor in Gringotts, and while Remus gets some gold, you're named as the recipient of all the rest." Harry was speechless. "There's a slight problem in that the Ministry has tied the estate up so it can't be dealt with due to Sirius's convict status. So it's in legal limbo at this time, and it will probably stay that way until the Ministry can sort out what really happened fifteen years ago, or we find Peter Pettigrew. The good news is that all of his accounts, while untouchable, will continue to accumulate interest, and you are considered the trustee of the house until the final ruling is made, well actually me since you're still underage. Basically, the bottom line is nothing changes from the way it is now. Understand?"

Harry was trying to absorb all the information, but his emotions kept getting in the way. "I think so. Though to be honest, I'd trade everything just to have him back." He had to blink hard to keep the water in his eyes and not trickling down his cheeks. Thinking hard, he tried to rewrap his thoughts about Sirius and put them back on the mental shelf. They were still too painful to deal with.

Tonks saw his pained look and put her arm around him and pulled him into a sideways hug. "I know, Harry, me too. But you know what? Even though we go on with life, we'll always have a part of him with us." Harry nodded and had to wipe his eyes with a finger. "If you ever want to talk about it, you know you can always come to myself or Remus, right?"

Harry told her "Uh huh, and Tonks?" She looked at him as he continued, "Be sure you talk with Remus about all this, I want you to be OK too."

"Don't you worry about me, I'll be fine."

"I know, but I want you to be more than fine, and I think Remus does that for you."

As the point of his words hit her, she told him in an outrageous voice, "You rascal!" Laughing, they both went back inside. Harry noticed that she hadn't denied what he'd suggested.

Ginny had noticed Harry and Tonks talking outside. He'd looked a little sad for while, but then came in happy. She liked Tonks and thought the Auror was good for Harry. Of course, Ginny wanted to be good for Harry too; she thought she could help him with his difficult times. She hoped he would let her, as she had noticed he'd had troubles letting people get close to him in the past.

That he looked great dressed in his black jeans and a black T-Shirt with his green boots was a nice thing for her, or as Harry said, a nice side-benefit. The only problem at the moment was her mum. Eventually she'd tell her they were dating, but Ginny didn't think it was a good thing to tell her now. An idea slowly came to her and she examined it while they waited to Floo to get their supplies. When Harry walked away to talk to Ron, Ginny quickly went over to Tonks and whispered, "Harry and I want to spend some time together today, will you help us with Mum?"

Tonks shrugged and told her, "I will if I can."

When they had Flooed to the Leaky Cauldron, Ginny put her daring plan into action. After her mum had arrived and was nearby, Ginny turned to Harry and with a mischievous look and a very sweet voice asked, "Harry, would you be so kind as to escort me around today? It would be terribly nice of you to help me seeing as you don't have to buy any books."

Harry wasn't sure what to do, then a wink from Ginny helped to clue him in to play along. "Sure Ginny, it would be my honor to escort you and help where I can." Hoping it was the right thing to do, Harry stuck out his left arm a little and Ginny reached up and grabbed it and steered him towards all the shops.

They walked by a very stunned looking Molly Weasley, who didn't say a thing to them. When Tonks came by playing rear guard, Molly walked next to her and hissed, "Escort? Do you know what's going on with those two?"

"Harry didn't say a thing about it, but I think it's quite sweet. You don't see many young people do that anymore do you?" Tonks smiled at the older woman.

"But she's only fourteen!"

"Molly, if memory serves, she'll be fifteen in a few days, and she's definitely the young lady; you've done a good job raising her. That she knows the customs is a tribute to you." Tonks was serious in her comments, but she also recognized that Molly was overly protective. So if Harry seemed to want to go along with this, she was going to see that he had the chance. Beside, she liked Ginny and thought she'd be good for Harry. She thought Ginny might be just the spice in life the Harry needed.

Now Molly was giving her a look like she'd lost her mind. "Relax Molly. I'll be watching him like a hawk all day. Besides, he's so clueless around girls it's amusing to watch. You really have nothing to worry about." Molly's look said she didn't agree.

Hermione steered them all to the bookshop first. Harry stayed with Ginny and carried all her things for her. He also made sure no old diaries came home with them.

Madam Malkin received them and happily worked to get four sets of robes quickly. Harry caught Ginny going to the second-hand robe rack to see what was there. He put his arm around her shoulder and steered her back to be fitted for new ones.

"Harry," she argued quietly, "Mum didn't give me enough money for new ones."

"Doesn't matter. I'll make up the difference, or better yet I'll get them and you can use that money for something else you need."

"You don't need to do that, I can make do with the used ones," she protested.

"Ginny, I'd expect this from your brother, but not you." That got a fiery look from her. "Don't worry about this. If you must spend the money, buy me a present; but I'd like it if you spent the money on yourself for once. Maybe some more of this nice perfume you're wearing, or a new journal, or whatever you've been wanting and haven't been able to get."

She'd lost the fire, but still wasn't sure. "Harry, we've only just started going out together. Are you really sure?"

"I know that my girlfriend would accept presents from me when I give them to her because she knows she deserves it, not because she trying to take advantage of me." Madam Malkin came over to them next having finished with Hermione new robes and adjusting Ron's second-hand robes. When Ron moved away, Harry quietly told the proprietor, "I'll pay for both of us". Ginny had new school robes and one new dress robe for the first time in her life.

By this point, Ron couldn't take it anymore and had to drag everyone over to Quality Quidditch Supplies to ogle the new Firebolt II. "Whatcha think Harry? Want one?"

Harry had been thinking that very question since shortly after he saw it in the catalogue. "It would be nice, but no, Ron. I don't really have a need for one or want it." Ron looked at him as if he'd gone insane. "I already have a Firebolt, Ron, and it was a special gift from a special person." He turned around to find Ginny and join her.

He found her looking at the Cleansweep line. "You left the Firebolt II display awfully quickly."

"It is nice, but it's not for me. I can't get one of these either, at least not now, but it would be nice to have a decent broom when I go to the team tryouts instead of having to use a school broom."

He agreed with that. "Would you like an original Firebolt like I have? I think you'd do well on that."

"Sure Harry, but even though they're cheaper now that the Two's have come out, they're still expensive. Maybe for Christmas," she said as she ran her hand up the handle of the Cleansweep Eleven in front of her, "then I'll have it for the last half of the season."

"Or maybe your parents will get you one for your birthday," he suggested.

"I doubt it, but one day I'll have a decent broom." She was so wistful in speech and beautiful in how she looked at the quality broom, he wanted to buy it for her right there; but after the incident with the robes, he held back. He didn't want to push her and have her think he was throwing his money around.

"One day Ginny, I'm sure you will. Where do you want to go next?"

"Lunch sounds good. I bet Ron will agree with me too," she joked with him and grabbed his arm to walk with him. It took a few minutes to pry Ron's eyes off all the new brooms, but soon they were walking back to the Leaky Cauldron for lunch.

On their way, they passed by a jewelry store. The girls stopped to look in the window. Harry wondered if maybe something from here would make a nice birthday present, but what to get? "Um, Ginny, do you like gold or silver jewelry better?"

She gave him a shy look. "Thinking of birthday presents?" His eyes went wide and she laughed at him. "That was an easy guess. Gold to answer your question; I think it goes better with my complexion and hair."

"Uh, thanks, that's good to know."

"You're welcome. By the way, good job. That's a very important thing to know about your girlfriend." She made a funny face at him to let him know she was teasing him.

They sat next to one another at the big table. The food was almost as good as Hogwart's, Harry thought. He also noticed that Mrs. Weasley seemed to be looking more at him than anyone else at the table. He quietly mentioned this to Ginny, who fortunately had a good view of her mum.

"Actually I think she's watching me, or maybe both of us," she whispered so others wouldn't hear, while sitting normally so it didn't look like an intimate conversation. "I'm hoping to slowly get her used to seeing us together, so when we break the news to her, she won't make such a big deal out of it."

"How about your dad?"

"He'll be fine. He likes you, well, mum does too; they both think of you as their unofficial seventh son. Mum still sees me as a ten year old little girl."

"I don't." Harry raised his eyebrows up and down a few times. Ginny had just taken a drink and choked on it. He pounded her on the back to help her breathe again.

When she felt normal, she turned to him and told him, "Thanks," and very softly purred, "and thanks, though your timing could have been better."

Harry smiled at her and considered himself lucky that she liked him.

As they were about to leave, Tonks came over and stood behind the couple and put her hands on each of their outside shoulders and her head down between them. Very quietly she asked, "So are you two an item or just working on it?"

Harry was surprised, but Ginny immediately whispered back, "Are you asking as Tonks or his Godmother?"

"I'm asking as your co-conspirator."

"In that case, yes, we're dating." Harry nodded his agreement.

Tonks smiled and whispered, "Good." Then in a normal voice, "Don't you forget what I told you, Harry."

"Yes, mum," he played along. Molly seemed none the wiser.

* * *

.


	8. Close Friends

Version: 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

**Chapter 8: Close Friends**

After the shopping, it was another night and another nightmare. Harry wasn't sure why he'd had a nightmare, but he wished he could do something about them. Perhaps something different was needed, so he grabbed the journal Ginny had given him and a pen and went downstairs. Ron was still blissfully ignorant of Harry's night meanderings.

He had just gotten started when he felt more than heard her entrance. Giving it a bit of thought, he decided it was her slight perfumey scent that gave her away. He liked that scent, which joined him on the couch in its customary place.

She smiled at him. "Finally using it?"

"This is my third entry I'll have you know." Harry paused writing and looked at her with a puzzled look. "Why do you call it a journal instead of a diary?" Harry thought he saw a sad look flash across her face for a brief moment.

"That's Bill's influence." She appeared to be gathering her thoughts so Harry didn't interrupt her. "When we went to Egypt the summer after my, uh, difficulties, I was still having a lot of nightmares. It was Bill's idea that I needed to face my fear and conqueror it, so he bought me my, uh, journal. He said that while it might look like a diary, this one was a journal and that he personally guaranteed it was safe to use. He had even charmed it so that it could only ever have one owner: no one before me, and no one after me. Bill even sat with me while I wrote my first few entries so I'd know everything was alright."

Harry found that interesting. "That was very nice of him."

"Yeah it was, Bill really helped me to recover faster. I don't know how he knew that would help, but it did." Ginny stopped and took a deep breath to clear the memory, then she looked up at him. "You don't seem like you're in a bad mood, so just insomnia instead of a nightmare?" She'd have sworn she heard a small scream; she was becoming more attuned to them.

"I'm trying to deny the nightmare at the moment while I write about it. Nothing else has stopped them, so I'm trying your therapy," Harry told her. The scenes from the nightmare strongly came back to him as he thought about the nightmare again.

She saw a pained look cross his face. "That's sounds, oh, desperate or something." He didn't answer her and he hadn't continued writing either. "Want to tell me about it? You sort of did the other night and it looked like it helped you," she suggested.

Harry slowly looked up from his journal to her. Her hair was messier than normal, from sleeping he assumed, but there were the same bright eyes looking at him. There was also no judgment waiting on him, just interest in him. "You sure?"

_Was it going to be this easy?_ she thought. "If it will help you Harry, I'll do almost anything for you."

"Almost anything?"

She gave him a reassuring smile. "There are some things I wouldn't do because they're not me, but I trust you not to ask me to go there." A slow nod was the only response she got, his face didn't even change, nor did he answer for a minute. Then he looked down and idly started running a finger along the seams of the couch.

"It always seems to start with me running down the long corridor that never seems to end, until I'm suddenly in the spinning room that won't let me out. I'm screaming for Sirius, I know I need to save him and a door will open and the room will throw me through it. Now there's all the shelves of balls. It seems like no matter how hard I search, I can't find the right one." He was so quiet Ginny was having a hard time hearing him, so she moved over to the middle cushion next to him to hear better. He didn't seem to notice.

"Just as I manage to finally find the right one, there's Voldemort and he starts chasing me. No matter what door I go through, there he is, and Bellatrix Lestrange too. She's always taunting me and calling me 'Baby Potter'. As I run from room to room, I find one of you fighting something weird. It's strange," he paused and looked up at her, "it's different from dream to dream, but normally none of you start the dream with me, but I always find you all there somewhere." He looked back down.

"No matter what happens in the middle, it always ends up in the veil room. Normally it's Sirius who goes through to disappear forever. A few times it's even been you, Ginny." As he looked up now, she could see tears coming out of his eyes and around his glasses, though his voice hadn't changed. "Once it was everyone I care about, marching through the veil as if they were going to a, a, a picnic or something."

Now she heard the sobs start to come. It was breaking her heart to hear this coming from him. Moving forward a bit more, she reached out to him and drew him in and laid his head on her shoulder, rubbing his shoulder and head like a little child frightened of a storm, she tried to comfort him. Ginny didn't know how long they sat there, but eventually he started talking again, though he didn't move from her embrace.

"As bad at that is, sometimes the dream continues to the worst part of the whole night. When I was upstairs fighting Bellatrix and Voldemort really came and Dumbledore fought him, the last attack Voldemort did was to possess me." Ginny's hands froze, she hadn't known. "Oh god, it all hurt so bad. The evil presence was so unbearable I wanted to die. I begged for Dumbledore to kill me, kill us both. At least I'd get to go be with Sirius, and Mum and Dad." The sobs started anew.

While Ginny's possession wasn't like that, due to the nature of the diary artifact instead of by a real person she assumed, she didn't know how he stood it all. "Does it still hurt?"

"Yeah all the time, there's always a dull ache in my scar now, though it's worse at times when it flares because he's very angry or very happy." That wasn't what she had meant as she was wondering if there was a problem from the possession, but that was interesting to know. Then again, maybe the aching scar was from the possession. She wondered if anyone could really know without getting rid of Voldemort.

She wondered aloud, "It's a shame the prophecy was lost, perhaps that would have given us a clue as to what to do."

That started the sobbing again and it was a reaction she hadn't expected. After a few minutes, he seemed to regain his composure. She hadn't let him go, and he continued to lean against her and loosely wrap his arms around her seeking comfort.

"Doesn't matter," he finally said. She was about to reiterate that it did matter for potential clues. "I know what it says; Dumbledore told me."

She looked down at the top of his head in surprise. "How would he know?"

"He was the one who heard it, from Trelawny of all people." He gave a bitter laugh for a few seconds. "I guess I should tell you so you can really know if you want to be my girlfriend; it has a high price." His voice was still bitter.

"I can bear it. Tell me." She went back to gently stroking his hair and head. That seemed to help him as she felt him relax slightly.

He quoted the Prophecy word for word. He'd thought about it a lot over the last couple of months. From his point of view, there were only two interesting parts: "either must die at the hand of the other", and "he will have power the Dark Lord knows not".

"So can you deal with that Ginny?" His voice grew harder, "Can you deal with a boyfriend who has to become a killer?"

She held him tighter as a few tears started to silently spill from her over his difficult position. This explained so much. How did he keep it together and not go insane? But how to answer him, because it was obvious he was waiting for one. "Harry, I can always deal with you; I can always love you." She hoped that would penetrate his thinking.

"But a killer Ginny!" It hadn't penetrated.

She had to find a real answer for him. "Harry, if you're in a fight because he comes after you, and you end up killing him in self-defense, does that really make you a killer or only someone standing up for himself?" He didn't answer, she wondered if this was penetrating. Maybe she could go one step farther. "And Harry, what if during the fight he threatens someone you love, maybe me," her ego didn't want to go here, but maybe it would help him make it more real. "Would you protect me? Would you protect innocent lives?"

It took him a while to answer, be she finally heard him say, "Yes ... to protect others."

What was it about him that he would do things for others that he wouldn't do for himself? Yet another reason to love him. "Then if something happens to him while you're protecting others, you're not a killer. You're a protector, Harry." She whispered, "You're my protector."

The embrace continued so long she thought he had fallen asleep when she heard, "I can do that." How long had it been she wondered: five, ten minutes? He had been thinking it through, choosing who he would be.

"I know you can Harry; I believe in you." She felt his arms tighten on her for a few seconds in acknowledgement.

"Now if I can only find out what the power is."

That startled her. Very gently she asked, "You don't know?" His head shook 'no' on her shoulder. This was going to be hard she thought.

"Dumbledore says it has something to do with love," he told her. "He said it's the strongest power there is, and Voldemort doesn't have it."

"But how does love conqueror him?"

Harry finally pulled away from her and sat back up, though he seemed to have trouble looking at her. "I don't know. Dumbledore couldn't answer either."

Ginny wasn't sure what to say to that, other than, "I'll help you search Harry. I'll be there for you."

The tears had stopped and an almost smile came to his lips, but not his eyes. "Thanks Ginny." Reaching out, she squeezed his hand, and he squeezed back. "It's a secret, don't tell anyone."

"I won't Harry; but shouldn't you tell Hermione and Ron? They can help you search too. They care for you too."

He seemed lost in thought for a moment. "You're right, but not now. It was hard enough with you."

"OK Harry, when you think the time is right." He nodded. "Answer me one question about you before we go back to bed. Did this help you, to talk about it all?"

Looking in her face, seeing the caring, the tear tracks where she had cried with him, feeling her hand on his ... "Yes, I do feel better. The burden does seem a little lighter." She smiled what he thought was a very caring smile.

"Then we need to do this more. I like you anyway you are, but I like it best when you're happy."

Now his smile did reach his eyes. "Thanks."

"Come on, let's get you to bed." With that, she stood and helped pull him up. Turning off the lamp, they both walked upstairs together for the first time.

At the landing, she gave him a hug and whispered, "I'll always be there for you, Harry." His hands on her back and squeezing her as he returned her hug felt so good she really didn't want to let go. Still, they couldn't stay that way, so she let go and felt him pull away too, and without another word they both went to their own rooms.

As Ginny crawled back into bed, she realized they had been dating for three days now, and they still had not really kissed. For reasons she couldn't explain, that was fine with her; it just hadn't felt like the right time yet. She hoped it was fine with Harry. However, maybe she'd dream about their first kiss tonight.

* * *

The next morning, Ginny got up before Hermione. Picking up some clothes, she went for a shower and to get dressed. As she got there, Harry was just opening the door and coming out.

"Hi! How ya doing this morning?" She wanted to add an endearment or two but wasn't sure if he would be comfortable with that yet.

"Great. I feel rested and I just finished my morning work out." Then he lowered his voice, "And I can't tell you enough how much last night helped me." He was now leaning against the doorway, his T-Shirt looking almost tight, and that wonderful smile of his was gazing down on her. He looked awfully great to her.

She smiled back at him. "I'm glad Harry. Also, I meant what I said too. I'll always be there for you."

The happy look didn't leave him, but he asked, "Always is a long time Ginny, how can you know that after three or four days?"

"I didn't mean it like that," she backpedaled.

"Like what, Ginny?" He was in such a good mood that teasing her seemed like such fun.

He's got to be flirting with me she thought. He can't be serious can he? "You know, I meant as long as you need me."

He took that in and seemed to nod a few times as if he was giving that deep thought. "And if I need you for a very long time, will you stay that long?"

She couldn't help it, her eyes just opened wide in surprise. What did she say to that? It didn't sound like flirting, but they had been going out for only three days. The happy look was still there, still a smile, maybe playful maybe not; but those green eyes of his were searching hers. "If I you need me, I'll be there," she said in a small voice.

He started nodding a few more times as if processing that and putting it away for safekeeping. "We'll see," was all he finally said before he walked around her to let her have the bathroom.

Going inside and locking the door, she began to wonder what she had just promised to. There was nothing specific, and yet, she couldn't help but feel that was a special moment, maybe a turning point. As she went through her bathroom routines, it occurred to her that Harry never did anything half way when he put effort into something. Whether it was running the DA, defense work, flying, whatever - he always went all out. His decision to change was having very concrete results. She had no doubt his challenge to Hermione was going to be very real. And now, it looked like he was thinking about her in a very definite way. Even by the time she left the bathroom, she wasn't sure if she should be thrilled or scared at what it could mean, because she didn't know if she was ready to be totally serious and this be her last relationship.

Breakfast was very normal with the four of them, except that Ginny had moved around the table to sit next to Harry instead of being across from him. That allowed him to lean over and whisper to her. "Do you mind if I spend the afternoon with Ron? Just the two of us guys? I feel like I haven't gotten to do that for awhile." Ron and Hermione were sharing their differences of opinion about whether Arithmancy was akin to the subject of Divination, so no worries about being overheard by them.

She whispered back, "OK by me. Could be good for Ron too."

"Do you mind if I spend tomorrow afternoon with Hermione? Just talking about things? I don't want to lose that friendship either."

"Why ask me?" she shrugged. "It's up to them."

"Mostly, but I'll be ignoring you for awhile."

"I'm not a clingy girl. Yeah, don't ignore me for a long time, but we'll still have eating times and the evenings."

"Yes we will. Thanks Ginny."

"Do I get Saturday?" she whispered teasingly.

"Are you two done over there?" It was Ron. Harry wasn't even aware his two friends had stopped arguing. He blushed a bit at being caught, but he wasn't worried either.

"I was just telling Ginny that I thought you and I ought to have some fun this afternoon. What do you think?"

"Just us?" Ron looked and sounded surprised.

"Yeah. Toss the Quaffle, whatever. Let the girls go do their own thing. You up for it?" Harry challenged him.

"Um, yeah, sure, whatever."

The morning was spent degnoming the garden, but the afternoon found the two boys with brooms in hand and the old Quaffle being kicked around like a football as they walked to the makeshift pitch in the clearing.

"I know we don't have a full Quidditch team yet, but what do you think our chances are going to be like this year?" Harry threw the question at Ron.

"Hard to say. You know, I kind of expected to see the Captain's badge in your envelope." Ron kicked the Quaffle on up ahead towards the field.

"Nope. I don't know whether I would have been picked or not, but like Ginny, I made it clear I didn't want it."

Ron stopped walking. "Are you daft?" he almost shouted.

Harry couldn't help but smile at that. "No, but I know I'll be really busy, just like Ginny. Don't get me wrong Ron. If I had the time, I'd take it in a heartbeat."

"Oh well, that's alright I guess. So who's the captain going to be you suppose. Katie?"

"Yeah, I expect. She's got NEWTs coming up, but I would think she'd still want and take, it." Harry was guessing, but it seemed reasonable to him, and Ron too as he didn't argue.

"I wonder if I'll make Keeper again this year." Ron sounded almost depressed.

Harry was surprised at that. "Why wouldn't you? You played quite well once you got going."

"Thanks Harry, but I know that's not completely true. I've thought a lot about it and when I'm honest, I was inconsistent."

That was the word Harry would have used too, though he wasn't going to say it. But there was something he wanted to say to his friend. "You can get more consistent if you want to."

"If I want to? What kind of talk is that?"

Harry sighed. "_If you want to_ is the talk of experience, Ron." Before his friend could respond he continued on, "Look, I've done a lot of thinking about life this summer. Probably the most important conclusion I came to was that you not only have to recognize there is a problem, which you've apparently done, but you have to make the choice to do something about it. Once you do that, doing it is so much easier. But it's that noticing and choosing that's so hard."

Ron thought about that and started slowly walking towards the field again. Harry continued with him. With a very introspective voice Ron asked, "Tell me Harry, what do you think I need to do to get better?"

"You have the skills, Ron," his friend told him with emphasis. Then with more gentleness, "All you really need to work on is you believing in yourself. When you do that, you play very very well; but when you lose your self-confidence, that's when it becomes hard for you."

The Keeper under discussion picked up the Quaffle this time instead of kicking it as they had come to the edge of the field. "I know, that's the sad part, I know it's my confidence."

"So what are you going to do about it then?"

"Don't know."

Harry wasn't sure what to tell him either.

Then Ron gave Harry a most intensive look. "You want to know what I really wish though? Just between you and me, mate?"

"Tell me." Harry was curious as to what Ron was going to say.

"I wish I could do everything you can do; I wish I was like you."

It was all Harry could do not to laugh it was so ludicrous. "No you don't, Ron." The red head looked like he was going to argue. "No, you really don't, because if you were like me, you'd have all my problems too, no parents or family, aching scar, and Voldemort after you too. They are a part of being me."

A stunned Ron looked at him. "I never thought it about it that way before. I just ... I don't want to be just a sidekick, I want to be special too."

Harry felt for his friend as he realized Ron had lived in the shadows of others all his life - first his brothers, then Hermione and Harry. "Ron, you are special even if you don't realize it. I don't want a sidekick, I want a best friend and you've been that to me."

"Really?"

"Really," Harry confirmed, "and I know it's not easy being my friend, that takes a special person."

Ron soaked it in. "Thanks, Harry."

"No problem, what are best mates for?" Harry swiped the Quaffle from his friend's hand. "Now come on, let's get you some more practice so you know you can do it and we can win another Quidditch cup."

As they mounted their brooms, Harry had another non-Quidditch thought. "Hey Ron?"

"Yeah."

"You know that having self-confidence applies to more than Quidditch don't you?" Harry had to work to keep a straight face.

"I suppose, but what specifically?"

"Girls, especially brown haired girls." Harry kicked off and flew at the ring and scored. "Ha! One point for me."

"No fair, Potter. Let me get up there and then let's see you get one past me."

Harry smiled. Yes, a confident Ron would be a good Keeper, and a whole lot more.

* * *

The late nights were eventually getting to Harry, so he begged off a late night meeting with Ginny that night. The next morning it hit him that it was Friday and the ninth at that. Ginny's birthday was in two days and he had nothing to give her. As he got out of bed and dressed in his exercise clothes, he remembered what he had felt like giving her earlier, the only problem was getting them in time. Mail order might make it, or it might not. What he needed was to go there himself. What he need was a runner for his errand, which caused him to smile.

Quietly opening his trunk, he searched for his catalogues. Finding the "don't need" stack he'd buried there weeks ago, he quickly found the one he wanted. Flipping through it, he found what he thought she'd like, and he saw something else he thought she might like too. He carefully tore those pages out. The other catalogue he wanted he couldn't find. Searching the bedroom, he finally found it on Ron's nightstand. _Typical,_ he thought with a smile. What he wanted in there was on page five, so he slowly tore that out and put the catalogue back. Pages and a small bag in hand, he went outside for his run. No one else seemed to be up, which suited him perfectly.

In a loud whisper, he said, "Dobby, please come I need you."

The small elf popped in. "Oh, Harry Sir!" he said excitedly.

"Sssh! Dobby," he tried to hush the house-elf. "I don't want anyone to know you're here."

"Sorry Sir," he apologized much more softly. "Harry Potter Sir calls and I come. I am so happy to see you. What can Dobby do today?"

"Dobby, I need you to go to Diagon Alley as soon as it opens. Here's my bag of gold. I need you to buy some presents for me. Have them gift wrapped, OK?"

"Yes Harry Sir. How will I know what to buy?"

"Here," he pushed the catalogue pages to him. "I want you to buy these three things." He pointed them out. "The hard part is that I want you to put the wrapped presents and my bag of gold back into my trunk upstairs without anyone seeing you. Can you do that?"

"Oh yes, Harry Potter. House-elves can do many things without being seen."

"Good. Now, how long do you think this will take you?"

"If the stores have the items, I can be done in a few hours."

"Great. Pick them up for me. I don't care when you put them in my trunk, whether today or tonight, but I'd like them there by this time tomorrow. Can you do that?"

"Easily, Harry Sir."

"Good, then off with you before anyone comes; and thanks Dobby, you're a big help!"

"Dobby is always happy to help his Harry Potter." The elf popped back out.

Smiling, Harry began his pushups.

During breakfast, he picked his next victim. "Hermione, would you spend the afternoon with me?" That got looks from both her and Ron. "I thought it might be nice to spend a little time together as friends, you know, before we get too busy with school."

"Sure Harry, what did you have in mind?" she asked.

"Oh, sit under a nice shady tree and talk. Another flying lesson if you'd like. Whatever." Harry shrugged and looked at her as he bit into his toast.

"All right," she said slowly with a most interesting look on her face. Harry decided he had presented her with a problem she didn't have a solution for. It amused him.

After lunch, he grabbed his broom and suggested to Hermione that they have another flying lesson, and then they could rest afterwards. She agreed. They worked on a little more speed as well as turns. After about half an hour, Harry could tell she had had enough even though she hadn't said anything about quitting. They went into the house and found a pitcher of lemonade and a couple of glasses, which they took outside and sat on the porch swing. Ron and Ginny were nowhere to be found; Harry assumed them to be in their rooms or playing chess in the living room.

"You're flying a lot better, Hermione."

"Thanks, Harry. You're really a good teacher you know." Harry blushed. "Really you are. Not only in flying, but also with the DA. I've also seen you with some of the younger students in the common room explaining the lessons. You should think about being a teacher."

It was strange, that idea sounded funny and fun at the same time. "Could be fun, but I had thought about being an Auror."

"You'd be good at that too. Maybe you could teach at the Auror School and do both."

"That's something I hadn't considered. I'd also thought about trying to be a professional Quidditch player and give up being an Auror altogether."

"Why? You know so much about Defense Harry, it seems like it would be a shame to waste it."

"I can understand you saying that; but when you've got a Dark Lord after you, assuming I survive, I'm wondering if I will have had enough of Dark wizards and witches to last me a lifetime." He had been thinking about this off and on over the summer; but at the moment it was still only a fleeting thought.

"I never thought of it that way," his friend told him. "I'm not sure I agree, but I can understand. Have you ever thought about going back to Hogwarts and teaching there? Or being Headmaster?"

That caught Harry by surprise. "I suppose I could teach Defense, but Headmaster? Really Hermione, Dumbledore isn't going anywhere anytime soon."

"Harry, they don't let new graduates become Headmaster," she said with exasperation about his overlooking the obvious. "Go be an Auror for awhile, play Quidditch, be a wizard and gain experience. Then go teach Defense for a few years and become Headmaster after that."

Harry laughed. "You make it sound so simple, like I'm planning homework or something."

"Well, it is just another plan, longer term of course; but I believe you could do it." He sort of nodded as he thought about it. "You do have one potential problem though."

"Besides Voldemort trying to kill me?" He said it like a joke.

"Harry! Please don't joke about that. No, I mean you'll have to convince Ginny to live in the castle."

If Harry had been drinking anything, he would have choked, and nearly did anyway. "You're jumping the gun, aren't you? I mean, we've been dating less than a week."

Hermione smiled very sweetly at him. "All right, Harry, then whomever you marry," but her look said she believed it was going to be Ginny.

They talked about a number of other things. In this setting, Harry really enjoyed the time. It also showed him something that he wasn't sure how to deal with, but he thought he should.

As the afternoon wound down, Hermione mentioned they should go in and help with dinner. Harry decided he should just go for it. _I am a Gryffindor_ went through his brain. "Uh Hermione, before we go in, can we talk about one more thing?"

"Sure Harry." She looked like patience personified.

"First, I wanted you to know that I've really enjoyed this time with you, and in many ways, I'm sorry we haven't done it before; though to be honest, I'm not sure I was grown up enough before this summer to fully appreciate it," he admitted.

"Thanks Harry, I've really enjoyed today as well. I hope we can have more of these too."

_I am a Gryffindor_. "Today you've shown me a new Hermione, and if I can be really honest, I think Ron would like this Hermione too if you'd let him see you this way."

"What do you mean? I'm my normal self." He could tell she was watching him very closely.

"I mean you've been really relaxed. If you noticed, we've even disagreed in our discussions, but it hasn't been like it was in the past. I know that some of the change is me, but some of it is you too. You've been more relaxed, patient, or something, today. Am I making sense or sounding incredibly foolish?"

Hermione thought about that, which Harry considered a good sign. "You make it sound like I argue just to argue."

"I don't know about that," though Harry had thought that before, "but I will say that sometimes you correct others in a way that what you're trying to tell us gets lost in how you say it. To be honest, I've shared more thoughts with you today than I'd planned, but it was so easy to talk to you they kind of just popped out."

Her head jerked back slightly as if trying to look at him differently. "I'm not sure what to say."

"I can understand. You're taking this much better than I thought too. I'm usually so bad at this kind of stuff I figured I couldn't explain it in a way that would sound logical, and I'd get my head bitten off for being a git."

"No, I understand what you saying; though I think the normal way to say it is the message gets lost in the delivery," she told him.

"Yes, that's it exactly." Harry was elated at her understanding.

"All right Harry, I'll think about it and watch myself for awhile and see." She did look thoughtful. "Since you're giving out advice, got any for me about how to get Ron educated like Ginny educated you?" She gave him a coy smile.

Harry laughed. "Other than using a Beater Bat on him?" Hermione gave him a shocked look even though she knew he was kidding. "Uh, maybe. Ginny explained to me that you had told her to live life and I'd come around eventually, or something like that."

"A very loose paraphrase, but correct in concept I suppose."

"I might suggest you take your own advice." He told her. "I'm not saying to go out and purposely find a bloke to date, but if one comes along and asks you, and he's decent enough, go out with him. Ron will eventually find his self-confidence, and I am trying to help him find it, believe me."

"I'll consider that too, but I don't think it applies in this case," she told him in her normal authoritative style.

"Why's that, Hermione?"

"You remember what happened with, or should I say is still happening with, Viktor Krum? He still won't let that go and gives me grief over it every time the subject comes up."

"You have a point. When it comes to Ron, I'll try to help you where I can..." he volunteered.

"I know Harry, and I do appreciate the various little things you've been doing. I have noticed even if Ron hasn't."

"I think he's has noticed you, he just doesn't know how to express himself." Harry wanted to add "like me" but he only thought it. "Anyway, I'll help where I can, but I'm so clueless about girls, in reality, you're probably on your own with him. If you have a plan, I'll help, but you should take all my advice about dealing with him as possibilities, not as plans."

"Fair enough," she smiled at him.

Harry helped her up and they went into dinner. Hermione was very quiet all evening, usually looking like she was somewhere else lost in thought.

* * *

.


	9. Gifts

Version: 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

**Chapter 9: Gifts**

When Harry woke up Sunday morning, it was the 11th of August and he was feeling pretty good despite his nightmare last night. It had been pretty mild compared to normal, so he'd had plenty of sleep. His nightly meeting with Ginny had also been quite short as she'd been tired. They hadn't talked for more than about fifteen minutes before he'd given her a hug and sent her to bed.

As usual, he got up and changed to go out and exercise. Pulling his clothes out of the trunk, he saw the end of the big present he'd gotten for Ginny sticking out from under some clothes. Dobby must have put them there the night before because they weren't there when he went to bed Friday night.

Bill and the twins came over as usual on Sundays. After his run and morning shower, he came down the stairs to see Ginny talking to Bill; she was facing away from the stairs. That allowed him to sneak up behind her and whisper, "Happy fifteenth birthday", in her ear. Her hair practically slapped him in the face she whirled around so fast. The smile on her face was a joy to behold.

"Thanks Harry!"

Bill watched the scene with amusement. A bigger smile came upon him when his mum called everyone to breakfast and Ginny didn't sit in her usual place but sat next to Harry. To the normal person, she acted no different, but Bill wasn't the average person. He loved his little sister and thought he knew a lot about her and her habits; and changing seats at the table was not something she would have done lightly. He'd have to question her or Harry a bit later.

Because it was Ginny's birthday, most of the events centered on what she wanted to do, which meant that after lunch there was another family Quidditch game. While the teams were the same as the week before, the result wasn't. This time Harry's team won, though it was only 25-23. Ginny graciously bowed to Harry at his team's victory, though she did tell him. "Enjoy it Potter, you won't be so lucky next week."

Though she had obviously been teasing, Harry was quite serious when he replied, "I know, that's what I'm afraid of." No matter what she said to him, he wouldn't elaborate.

After Ginny's favorite dinner of meatloaf, the presents and cake came out. She got fluffy quills, a pack of four colors of ink, several nice jumpers from her parents, and various other nice gifts; but the one she really wanted, she saved for last.

Harry's gift was about the size of her hand and slightly heavy actually. There were any number of things that could be in there, but she was going to have to unwrap the silver paper to find out. Under the paper was a black velvet box; jewelry was always good in her book. Opening the box she found one of the most beautifully wrought gold necklaces she'd ever seen. It was similar but more ornate than the one she'd seen in Diagon Alley last week. "Oh Harry, it's beautiful." It looked like spun rope but more intricate. She carefully pulled it out of the box and felt the weight in her hands. She wondered if it was solid gold it was so heavy. Putting it on her neck, she wished she had a mirror. Fortunately, Bill had anticipated that the moment he saw the necklace and conjured a hand mirror for her.

The rest of the evening was spent in talking and much frivolity. As the teens went to bed, and Bill was about to Floo to his flat, across the room he saw Harry whisper into Ginny's ear just before they went up the stairs. He then remembered he'd forgotten to ask them if anything special was happening. Deciding that nothing much would probably happen in a week, he left for home.

Harry noticed that they seemed mostly alone when he and Ginny were starting up the stairs, so he leaned over to whisper in her ear, "Meet me at half past twelve if you want your real birthday present."

She looked at the clock and saw that was a little more than hour from now. Not having a clue as to what he meant considering the necklace was plenty nice, she told him OK as they went up the stairs. Maybe she'd get her first real kiss, which would be a nice present.

Ginny wasn't concerned anymore about hiding her late night rendezvous with Harry from Hermione, but she preferred to have them as discrete as possible. It was hard waiting for the appointed time, but she managed by writing about the day's events in her journal. Hermione was either asleep or pretending very well by the time she needed to leave.

The living room was dark so she lit the lamp. Harry was already there sitting in the dark again. This time, it was obviously a happy Harry. The second she sat down he asked her, "Did you really like your necklace?"

"Yes!" she spoke softly but her excitement was very evident.

"Good, I'm having to guess at what girls like." Reaching into his robe, he pulled out a small square box, also wrapped in silver paper, and handed it to her. "I found this and thought you might like it too."

It was all she could do to not display the emotion she actually felt, and to reach her hand out and take the box from him. Sure she'd known him for almost five years, but they'd been dating only for a week as of tonight. This innocent looking little box scared her as she remembered her thought about Harry always going all out in anything he did seriously. Fumbling fingers unwrapped it and sure enough it was also covered in black velvet. Right, so she'd thought about being with him for years, but surely it couldn't be. Looking up at him she saw his face beaming at her and she about melted; she'd have to trust him. Opening the little velvet box, she looked down at it and let out the breath she hadn't been aware she'd been holding.

"Like it?"

It wasn't better than her necklace, so his comment about her "real present" puzzled her, but it was special and very Harry. "It's lovely." Carefully, she pulled out a green lightening bolt shaped pendent about an inch long that was set in a gold backing which gave it a thin gold edge. Holding it up next to his face, she saw it also had two jags in it, unlike his scar, and was almost the same color as his eyes.

"It's jade. I don't know if you really want it or not, but I thought it would give you something to sort of," he searched for a word, "mark you, I suppose, as mine. That is if you don't think it's too silly."

She smiled at him and told him, "No, it's very sweet; of course I'll wear it." As she took her necklace off to thread the pendent onto, she mentally laughed at herself for thinking the small box had contained a ring. Where had her brain been? _Stupid girl,_ she thought. Slipping the necklace back on, she wished she had that hand mirror now, but Bill had sent it back to the magical energy it had come from. Looking around the room, she saw a small mirror on the wall and went over to it.

Her robe wasn't a pretty thing, so she tried to ignore it; but the necklace and lightening bolt made even that old garment look good. Then she saw Harry come stand behind her and she felt his hands on her shoulders as he also looked into the mirror with her. "I hope that's good enough to keep all the other boys away from you," he whispered to her. "But so you know, I'll fight them all if I have to because the most beautiful girl there is mine."

Ginny turned around and felt his hands slide down to her waist as she turned, now standing neatly in his arms. "No other boy has ever told me I'm beautiful." She gazed up at him.

He looked down at the feisty slip of a girl in his arms. She felt so right there; like he was ... the word home seemed to fit. Was she the reason he felt "home" whenever he was here? Without even realizing what he was doing, he did what any normal sixteen-year boy would do when holding a beautiful girl in his arms. He let himself drift down to her and they kissed for the first time.

Ginny could hardly breath she was so giddy on the inside. She had no clue how long it had lasted, but kissing him had been everything she'd ever dreamed of. As they broke apart, she sighed and leaned her cheek against his shoulder and his hand came up her back and rubbed between her shoulder blades. It was so good here in his arms, like he was made for her. Pushing back just enough she could look him in the eyes again, she really did purr, "Thank you Harry, of the three presents, that last was the best."

He smiled that melting smile at her, but she didn't have to worry about going weak in the knees now. He was holding her close and she felt safe from falling. To make matters better, he leaned down and gave her a much shorter but still satisfying kiss. "I guess we'll have to see whether you like that or your real present better."

"I love the pendent and the necklace, but the kiss was the best I think."

A low chuckle came from him. "The pendent was a small something I ran across in the catalogue and thought you'd like. No, Ginny, your real present is over here." She suddenly felt lonely as his arms left her and he walked over to the chair in the corner and reached behind it. When he turned around, he held a long thin box in bright red foil paper. To a Muggle, it might have looked something like an oddly shaped trombone case; but Ginny knew instantly what it was and a gasp escaped her.

"Harry! You shouldn't have! You can't get me one of those, it's far too expensive."

"Yes I can Ginny, you deserve it and I know you want it."

"Duh, of course I want one, but that's not the point."

"Yes it is, well mostly. The second point is that I want you to have it. It's a gift, and you can't refuse the gift without hurting the giver's feelings you know." He gave her a grin.

That was a low blow indeed. She knew he was right; she'd have to take it now. Of course, she really did want one; that just made it worse. Slowly she reached out and took the package from him, treating it most reverently. Hermione would have laughed had she seen how Ginny handled the present, unwrapping it slowly and lovingly. Even the case was beautiful to her. Harry held out his arms to hold it for her, to sort of act like a table, so she laid the case there and with great care and feeling, she opened it on its hinges.

As she saw it for the first time, it took all she had not to scream in delight. Her eyes went wide and her head shot up to look at Harry watching her. In a scandalous voice, she told him, "You shouldn't have!" but her meaning was quite clear: this broom was hers and nobody was taking it from her, unless they pried it out of her cold dead fingers. Other than missing some wear marks, it was an identical brother to Harry's broom. She didn't care that it was last year's premier model, because she now had her very own Firebolt.

Pulling it out of the case, which Harry leaned against the wall, she felt and appreciated the smooth handle. It was almost surely her imagination, but she thought she could feel its power just from holding it. It was gorgeous. Without thought and with the broom still in her right hand, she threw her arms around Harry and gave him a very lingering kiss to say thank you.

When she finally pulled away, all he could say was, "Wow," in a stunned manner. Seeing the glee on her face, he told her, "I think I need to go buy a whole bunch more brooms for you."

She laughed and hugged him. "Thank you, Harry. You really know how to make a girl feel special."

Harry squeezed her whole body tight for a second in his hug then asked her, "So which of the presents is the best one now?"

"You really want to know?" she asked with laughter in her voice.

"I'm sure it's obvious from your reactions, but yes."

As she was about to answer her broom, looking into his eyes gave her a different answer. "I think the best present is the one I've been wishing for years - getting Harry Potter."

That surprised him, but he let it go. "I could hold you all night Ginny, but we really better get to bed."

"I suppose. I better hide this wrapping paper too; at least until tomorrow."

"Why until then?"

"Once I ride the broom, the paper's not going to matter." Her face suddenly fell. "Oh my, that's going to be a problem."

"What?"

"What's going to happen when my parents see this broom? Mum's going to go crazy."

"It's a present, no big deal."

She gave him a "you don't understand" look, but said nothing. She put the broom back in its case and picked up all the wrapping paper, as well as the small jewelry box. With everything in her hands, she walked back up to Harry and quickly stood on her toes and gave him a quick kiss. "I meant what I said, Harry. The presents are wonderful, but you are the best." She let him turn out the light and they went back upstairs to their own bedrooms.

Harry went to sleep quickly and blissfully. Not a nightmare found him; his brain was too busy reliving his first real kiss, the "mishap" with Cho didn't count as far as he was concerned.

Ginny put all her stuff away in her closet. Lying down, she realized she was far too excited to sleep. A journal entry was definitely in order; then she could dream of more kisses. She also wondered if it was possible to kiss while flying on a broom. That gave her a case of the giggles, which she had to suppress as she started her journal entry.

* * *

The next day, being a Monday, they were busy all day. It was like her mum had saved up all the chores for several weeks for them. There was no rest for the weary, but most importantly, no free time that day.

Now that they were dating, Ginny was sure Harry did this on purpose, but he again switched places with Hermione and helped her help her mum fix dinner. Two important circumstances came together to help her though. One, it was the 12th of August, so the summer sun would still be up for several more hours. Two, her dad had come home a little early, so they'd be eating a little early which would give her more time after dinner to do something fun. A specific fun she had been thinking about all day and had not mentioned to anyone, except for a few whispers to Harry.

Taking only long enough for dinner so as not to get into trouble, the two of them rushed upstairs as soon as dinner was done and got their brooms. They went back down, but out through the front door to avoid not only her mum, but Ron and Hermione as well. Harry suggested follow the leader to give her a chance to get used to the broom, she eagerly agreed.

Harry took it easy at first, giving a few pointers about the broom's handling characteristics when they hovered between tests. It wasn't long until Ginny seemed to be in full control and then Harry stopped holding back and started really having fun. Ginny couldn't believe how incredibly well her new broom handled. It was an absolute joy. And chasing Harry - that was thrilling; that boy did know how to fly.

While they were trying to stay out over their little practice field, eventually they got carried away and started doing bigger and more daring feats. It was then that Molly Weasley looked out her kitchen window in time to see and hear two "things" go zooming around the house and in front of her window so fast she didn't know what they were.

Ron was almost done with putting the dishes up when he saw the flashes and heard the "zoom zoom" of two high-speed objects; the sounds he normally only heard while watching a Quidditch game and the players flew next to the stands. He looked over at Hermione to find her looking at him, so it wasn't his imagination. He'd almost have sworn he'd seen Harry go by as if testing his Firebolt, but that didn't account for there being two of them.

Then it happened again, going the other direction this time. "What was that?" his mum said. She put down the plate she was holding and walked out the back door wand in hand. Ron and Hermione followed being curious as well. Mr. Weasley was still in the living room reading the paper and blissfully unaware.

They had barely walked outside when they saw two flyers zoom up and do an inside loop going upside down briefly at the top. It reminded Hermione of a roller coaster in a Muggle amusement park. Then the flyers did a turn into a tight corkscrew downward for a few seconds before they leveled off maybe twenty feet above the ground and started coming back towards the house. It was then that Molly realized the second flyer had long red hair. As they came around, she stepped out towards them and yelled, "GINEVRA MOLLY WEASLEY! YOU GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!"

Harry came to stop right in front of the three people on the ground so suddenly that it almost took Hermione's breath away. Ginny was still a little unsure and took an extra five feet, landing slightly beyond him. Taking in the look on her mum's face and her stance of hands on her hips, she became truly afraid for the first time in a long time. Her mum rarely used her full name any more.

Ron went bonkers looking at the broom in her hand, which looked just like Harry's Firebolt; but Harry obviously had his Firebolt in his hand. He was mystified and wondered where she had gotten it.

Mrs. Weasley instantly went on the attack. "Ginevra Molly Weasley! What do you think you are doing on that broom? And just where did you get a broom like that anyway?" Ginny's broom was obviously not one of the family brooms.

Ginny knew this moment would come when she'd received the broom last night, but she couldn't think of a thing to say that would satisfy her mum. While her mind searched for an answer, she heard Harry speak up. "It's my fault, Mrs. Weasley."

Molly looked in surprise at Harry, but with firmness still in her voice. "That's nice of you to try to stick up for her Harry, but Ginny is the one that needs to answer as she's the one in trouble."

"I'm sorry, but if someone should be in trouble, it should be me, because I gave her the broom as a birthday present."

Her look changed to one of incredulity. "Why would you give her such a dangerous present?"

"It's no more dangerous than any other broom, Mrs. Weasley, and you already have quite a few in the shed," he pointed out as politely as he could.

"That's not the point," she thundered. "None of them will go that fast."

"I really don't think we ever went much over 80 miles per hour, and Ginny could probably even get Mr. Weasley's broom to go almost 80 if she tried hard enough." He thought it best not to mention the Firebolt's top speed was well over a 100 miles per hour.

"But it's dangerous!"

"For Ginny, it's actually safer then being in the kitchen." So far he was succeeding in keeping his voice very even and reasonable.

"Hey, Potter-" Ginny started but was interrupted by Harry.

"Really Ginny, I've watched you with a knife on the vegetables. You're much better at handling a broom than you are at handling a kitchen knife!"

Ginny was about to object then paused to think about what he said. The fury left her and her face brightened. "Thanks Harry, that's very sweet of you!"

"Ginny," her mother sounded outraged, "being able to cook is much more important than flying on a broom."

"Not to me," her daughter told her quite seriously.

"Really, Mrs. Weasley," Harry spoke back up to take the focus away from Ginny. "It's not inappropriate. I know you'd have given her a broom if you could, like you gave Ron one when he made prefect last year. It's my gift to a person who has a very real need for a good broom; that will give us the best chance at winning the Quidditch Cup this year."

Molly looked back and forth between the two and finally stormed into the house.

"That means she's going to go talk to Dad," Ron commented. He was struggling between being happy for his sister and being jealous of her. Sure, Harry had bought a large number of small things for him over the years, but never a premier broom. The jealousy was being suppressed so far, but just barely.

"Well Harry," Ginny said with resignation, "you've just seen the warm up to a _good Weasley row_ like I told you about. The main part is coming next."

"Do you mind if I try to explain it to them?" Harry asked. "Then if I fail you can take if from there."

"Be my guest," his girlfriend told him. "You've done a pretty good job so far actually. Beware though that she's really winding herself up into a real dither while she's talking to Dad."

The four of them went back into the house too. Ron and Hermione started back on the dishes; the other two decided to help them.

Arthur Weasley soon appeared. "Ginny, Harry, would you join us in the living room?"

"Of course, Dad," Ginny replied for both of them. She looked at him and took a deep breath before walking to her doom, or so it felt to her.

Hermione looked at Ron, "I wished we had some extendable ears."

Ron couldn't believe straight-laced Hermione had said that, but after a moment he replied, "I have to agree, this was going to be a 'good one'".

The young couple went in and sat on the love seat that faced the couch they normally sat on late at night. Arthur shut the door and walked over to the big couch and joined his wife, who was still looking like her temper was about to get the best of her.

"Harry," Arthur calmly started, "Molly tells me you bought Ginny a Firebolt. Would you please tell me why?"

"Certainly sir." Harry knew that politeness would be a key to winning over Mr. Weasley, and if he could do that, he thought, or rather hoped, Mrs. Weasley would follow soon. "As you know, Ginny played on the house Quidditch team last year. She was handicapped by having to use a school broom. So in the interest of wanting to make sure we had the best chance of winning the Quidditch Cup again, I decided to get her a good broom. Also, I wanted to get her something nice, something I knew she really wanted."

"Isn't that an overly expensive present?" Arthur asked.

Harry assumed her Dad considered winning the Quidditch Cup important since he hadn't said anything against that. "No, not really. It only cost three hundred and ninety Galleons, which is a real deal considering it was over five hundred Galleons when mine was purchased."

Molly's eyes started to bug at that amount. "But it's far too expensive!"

"It's really not a problem for me, I have plenty," Harry said very matter-of-factly. "As long as she doesn't try to take advantage of me, which I know she never will, I don't care about spending something like this on a gift here or there."

"But-" Molly started again, but Harry interrupted without thinking about it.

"Your family has done so much for me, why can't I give gifts that I want to give?"

"That's more than a gift," she was still fighting, though not as hard he noticed.

Harry wondered what Mrs. Weasley considered it then, but decided this wasn't the time to ask that question. Instead, he decided to say, "A gift is decided by the giver, and I think she's worthy of the gift. She's a very good flyer and I think she should develop that skill to her full potential," Harry argued.

"But Harry, it's, it's, ..." Molly was searching for another tact that he hadn't covered.

Harry decided if he had to face the music, he wanted to get it all over with. "Mrs. Weasley, did you do this for Ginny's other boyfriends too?" That halted her on the gift questions. His implication was not missed.

"I've always thought of you as our seventh son, but boyfriend? Ginny is too young for that." Her tone was back to firm. It was all Ginny could do to hold her tongue at that comment from her mum.

"When did you have your first boyfriend Mrs. Weasley?" he asked innocently.

Molly started sputtering not being able to believe he'd asked that. She was fourteen but he didn't need to know that.

Unbeknownst to her, Arthur was fighting a smile and losing. That gave Harry courage. "Mrs. Weasley, I promise I'll never do anything to hurt her, and I'll do everything in my power to protect her from whatever comes along."

That got Ginny fired up. "I don't need protection."

Harry didn't believe that, but he assumed an agreeing face. "No, you rarely do, but it is nice to have someone to watch your back," he said with a caring smile.

Ginny lost her objection and smiled back at him and without thinking about her parents, leaned into his arm.

Molly was surprised at her daughter's behavior, as it seemed to confirm her worst fear that someone was taking her baby away.

Harry looked away from Ginny. "Mrs. Weasley, if it would make you feel any better, you should know that while I know money can't buy happiness, I'd have given everything in my vault to have grown up in your family. It's the only place I truly think of as home." He honestly meant it and his face showed it.

Molly didn't know what it was about Harry that did it to her, probably his circumstances in losing his real parents, but she had a very soft spot in her heart for him. Not being able to stand it anymore, she got up and went over and wrapped Harry in a big hug. When she let go, she was sniffling, so she left the room to find a handkerchief.

The crisis defused, the teens got up to leave; but before they could leave the room, Arthur spoke up. "Harry?" The young man turned to see her father looking at him as he would at his own son, "I will hold you to your promise about taking care of our daughter."

"Yes sir, and I mean it from the bottom of my heart, whether you had heard it or not."

That seemed to satisfy him because Arthur smiled and nodded.

The two walked back into the kitchen; finding it empty they went back outside. "I can't believe how well that went," she told him as they walked over to Ron and Hermione who were sitting on the porch steps waiting, having left the kitchen when Molly went through it to go upstairs for her handkerchief.

"Yeah," agreed Ron, "I can't believe it either. I've never seen anyone talk mum out of a tirade before."

Harry only shrugged. "I'm happy it's all out of the way, and that they know about us," he said as he turned to Ginny. She smiled in agreement and reached out and grabbed his hand. That made Harry feel even better. "How about a bit more flying Ginny? You could ride behind me if you want."

There was no hesitation, "I'd like that."

"Ron," he turned to his friend, "maybe you could take Hermione on your broom to give her another flying lesson. You know, to make her feel better about being up in the air."

Ron looked at him like he was speaking in a foreign language.

"That would be nice Ron." Hermione said in a wishing voice. Though it took Ron nearly ten seconds to respond, he finally sheepishly agreed. The four teens on two brooms flew for the next half hour until it got too dark. At the end of the evening, one couple went on inside, the other couple paused outside the door for a private moment and a quick kiss.

* * *

The last three weeks of the summer went quite well for the teens. Because of Mrs. Weasley's watchful eye, Harry and Ginny purposefully avoided snogging knowing that soon they'd be at school and wouldn't have to worry about her. Instead, they spent most of their free time talking, which deepened their relationship more then either of them could have anticipated. Harry quickly got to the point that it was hard to imagine life without Ginny in it in some way; while Ginny removed the emotional wall she'd erected to protect herself from Harry not paying attention to her over the years. More and more as the summer finished, Harry started turning to Ginny for her thoughts first and asking Ron and Hermione second.

In addition to their frequent late night meetings, Harry finally talked Ginny into joining him on his morning runs. It had taken a week to get her to warm up to the idea. She said she didn't need all the other exercises, so she helped him count all of his, and not so secretly enjoyed watching him to do them. That embarrassed him quite a bit, which in turn made it hard for him to reach his goals because he kept laughing when he caught her doing it, but Ginny enjoyed teasing him that way.

One event in the world did reach The Burrow and dampened all the happy feelings for a short time. On Monday the 19th of August, the Daily Prophet reported that not only had the Dementors broken out of the control of the Ministry and left Azkaban, but there had been a massive outbreak as well. Nearly twenty known Death Eaters were now on the loose again.

There was much discussion about the problem, but everyone seemed to agree Hermione's summary was the most insightful. "It's really most unfortunate. In addition to having to recapture a number of dangerous and experienced Death Eaters, it also increases the number of ways they can send terror out into the world, and that's going to be difficult to guard against."

Within a few days though, the event was mostly relegated to the back of their minds. A few last days of fun before school started seemed much more important. To Harry and Ginny, nothing was more important than the time they got to spend talking and getting to know one another. Harry began to think this must be what love was; Ginny already knew.

* * *

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	10. All Aboard?

Version: 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

(A/N: This is another chapter the story has been driving towards. :)

* * *

**Chapter 10: All Aboard?**

Sunday the 1st of September was a happy but chaotic day at The Burrow. Most of the teens had packed all but their last minute things the night before, the exception being Ron. So while he ran around after an early breakfast to get all his stuff together, the others sat downstairs with their trunks and chatted eagerly about the upcoming year.

At a little before nine, Tonks arrived in a large car, which she said it was for security purposes. Harry opened the door to allow Hedwig to fly to school and then he was ready to go. Tonks pulled out her wand and shrunk all the trunks, and Hedwig's cage too, to half size to make packing the boot of the car easier. That gave Harry an idea; after all, he did know the enlarging spell.

"Tonks, can you shrink them down smaller?"

"Sure Harry, but why? They're easy enough to handle now."

"Well, yeah, but if you shrink it down to be small enough to fit in my pocket, I won't have to bother with carrying them through the station, onto the train, and find space for them. It could stay there until I got to my room where I can enlarge it back." He thought that plan sounded logical.

"Sure, if that's what you want. Need anything out of it before I do?" She enlarged it back to normal size.

He thought about that, then opened his trunk to pull out one school robe that he'd need once he got there. That was easy enough to carry. "Can you go ahead and shrink the cage? I can put that in the trunk first, then I only have one thing to worry about."

So Tonks cleaned the cage with _Scourgify,_ and then shrank it down. Finally she shrank the trunk until it was the size of a walnut, which Harry picked up and put into the pocket of his jeans.

The others saw what Harry had done with his trunk and decided it was a good thing and had Tonks shrink their trunk too. With that out of the way, the five of them plus Mrs. Weasley, got into the back of the car that had an enlarged interior, and they drove off to King's Cross to meet the Hogwarts Express.

When they got to the station, they saw Mad-Eye near the magical column entrance. He was securing the outside of the portal. When he saw them, he waved Molly over to talk to her. The teens knew the routine so they followed Tonks through. On the wizarding train platform, Tonks thought it all looked all right, so she sent them onward to board the train while she stood by the portal on this side.

Ron and Hermione walked side-by-side talking about the upcoming prefect meeting, while Harry paused for a moment to grab Ginny's hand. He saw her smile at his obvious public display of their relationship, before he heard a snigger from behind him. Turning he saw Tonks making the noise. "You two are so cute together."

Harry couldn't decide what to say to her, but Ginny responded for him. "Thanks Tonks. I know I like it." Her boyfriend blushed slightly but kept silent.

"Go ahead you two, you're friends are getting way ahead."

The couple turned and started walking towards the train. Without telling the other, both were keeping an eye out for Dean Thomas, wondering how that meeting was going to go. Near the halfway point to the train, Harry saw a handful of Death Eaters suddenly appear spread out in a semi-circle around the edge of the platform in front of them. The slight stumble and no cracking sound made Harry think they had Portkeyed in. His wand came out and he pushed Ginny slightly to the side as he jumped a bit himself so as not to be a standing target. Sure enough red jets of light went streaming towards where they had been.

Harry erected a shield and started trying to shoot back at the Death Eaters all the while staying on the move. As he turned and scanned for a safer place to be, rather than in the middle, he noticed that he was encircled by at least twenty Death Eaters, but he didn't have time to count. He also noticed that Ginny was moving around, but she seemed to stay near him and they formed a "V" to protect the other's back.

As he shot another stunner, he turned to their blind side to see a purple spell coming for Ginny. He jumped to the side and flicked his wand to try to interpose his shield, but he missed and the spell hit him on the left side of his chest and traveled to his side. It was like liquid fire and he was in agony. He didn't remember screaming but he must have because as he hit the ground on his back, he saw Ginny turn and lunge for him. A few seconds later, his chest began to hurt with a completely new pain.

As Ginny was firing spells and hexes as fast as she could, her shield was taking a beating from all the spells raining on it, and it was about to fail again she was sure. Suddenly she felt like she was tripping for no reason then she seemed to hit something she couldn't see. While trying to recover her balance, she heard a scream in her right ear. Turning that way, she saw Harry hit the ground and realized it had been his scream she'd heard; then she saw his chest. Not knowing what else to do, she dropped her wand in panic as she dove for him, skinning her hands and ripping a hole in one knee of her jeans as she hit the rough platform. All she could think to do was to slap her hand directly over the hole in his body that was spurting out blood almost like a fountain.

"Harry," she cried out, "no, you can't die and leave me; I love you and want you to stay with me!"

She saw him look at her with his glasses askew and weakly heard him say, "I love you too Ginny; I always will..." before she watched him pass out. Not caring about herself anymore, she put her head down and started to cry big tears that clouded her vision. She never saw the brief glow of light under her hand; nor did she see the golden dome form over the two of them.

When the fight had started, Tonks went into full Auror mode. Her shield came up, stunners were flying at every white masked figure she saw, and all clumsiness left her. The first few were easy, they didn't know she was there. However, a few saw her and then she was kept busy. As she got rid of the last one near her, she heard a scream and looked over in time to see Harry hit the ground, then Ginny diving for him. Several spells went over their heads where they had been standing. She knew the next set would aim at their position on the ground and they wouldn't be able to dodge. Only one option presented itself to the Auror though and it would be tough.

Dropping to her knees to make herself smaller, she cast a dome shield over the two students and then she did her best to hold it as long as she could, praying that help would come quickly. The spell was hard enough to do on your own person, but to cast it at a distance was very draining and usually an act of desperation, which she felt. It also left her unprotected.

Watching two spells hit her shield and bounce off, she wondered how much longer she could hold it when she saw nearly a dozen Aurors Apparate onto the platform just as Mad-Eye came through the portal. At their arrival, the Death Eaters who were still standing all disappeared within a few seconds. Letting the shield dissipate, she struggled to her feet and ran a little wobbly to her godson and his girlfriend, who had a bloody right hand pressed to his chest and two wands in her left hand now.

Through her tears, Ginny saw a fuzzy Tonks run over and look down on them. "Tonks, he's hurt so bad, there's so much blood I can hardly hold it in!"

Seeing Harry down like that in a large pool of blood with a highly distressed Ginny who was usually unflappable, Tonks decided he had to have help now and she didn't care about all the rules she was about to break. Seeing Kingsley Shacklebolt not too far away, she shouted at him, "I'm taking Harry to St. Mungo's." Conjuring a piece of rope, she turned it into a Portkey. Shoving one end of it into Ginny's hand with the wands, she gripped the rope and Harry too while she activated the Portkey.

Landing in the middle of the emergency area of St. Mungo's, Tonks screamed, "I need some help now!"

An older healer who was walking nearby came over immediately. "What's wrong?"

Tonks looked up at him as she continued to kneel by Harry. "He's been hit by what looked like a cutting spell and he's lost a lot of blood." The Healer called a colleague and a nurse over so the four of them could carry Harry to a room while Ginny kept her hand over the wound.

The younger healer was putting blood replenishment potion down Harry's throat, while the older one worked on the wound. Harry's T-shirt was already in shreds so it was just torn away. The line down his side was easy to fix, but when the healer had Ginny move her hand, he couldn't heal the wound. The blood was still pumping out of his chest so the man quickly put Ginny's hand back, which did temporary hold the blood in.

The older healer turned to the younger one. "Most interesting, Chester."

"Never seen anything like it, Lawrence."

Ginny and Tonks both looked at them with fear for Harry. The older healer looked up to Tonks, but before he could say anything, the door to the room burst open. Tonks' Auror instincts kicked back in and she shot a shield spell out so fast the person who was trying to run in hit the shield and bounced back out.

The younger healer turned to the nurse, "Close the door and make sure no one comes in." Tonks took the shield down so the nurse could leave and close the door after herself.

Only Tonks had recognized the intruder as she'd bounced out: Molly Weasley.

Trying again, the healer introduced himself. "I'm Lawrence Davies, and this is Healer Chester Gray. This is a very interesting wound. The less damaged part did seem like a Cutting Curse had caused it, but are you sure that's what it was?"

"No Healer Davies, I didn't see the spell," Tonks told him. "Did you Ginny?" The girl gave a weak no, still deathly afraid for Harry.

"Hmm, I'll have to think about this then."

Tonks was forceful. "Does he have the time with the wound unhealed?"

"That's part of what's so interesting. It seems that as long as this young lady keeps her hand there, his body can deal with it." He did yet another diagnostic spell on Harry. "Same as before: a few bruises and minor cuts are all that's there, except for the large hole in his chest. It just missed the heart, so he was fortunate there. The blood is coming from a major artery there, but as long as she keeps pressure on it, that closes the hole in the damaged artery and so the rest of his body gets blood. For some reason, the standard healing spell that should fix that doesn't work."

He also looked at Ginny and realized she was hurt too. Doing a diagnostic spell revealed mostly superficial damages; still he healed her cuts while he considered the problem. "There, all better young lady?"

"Ginny, Ginny Weasley" she had found most of her voice now. "Yes thank you; well, except for my hand, it still throbs."

"But I just healed it," he protested.

"No, my other one, the one on Harry."

"Really! Hmm, I wonder. Chester, get a sterile pad; let's try something." When the clean pad was brought he held it near her hand on Harry. "Now Ginny, here's what we're going to do. I want you to lift your hand and then I'm going to put this pad on the wound, and I want you to use your other hand to hold the pad down, understand?" Ginny nodded. Healer Gray looked at his colleague like he'd lost it. "I know Chester," he said, "but do you have a better idea? She can't keep her hand there forever." Chester didn't, so they tried it.

In the new arrangement, blood only trickled out of Harry's wound. "Good enough for the moment," Davies said. "Chester, more blood replenishment potion for him." Looking at Ginny's hand, he found that it indeed had a major gash in it. He'd suspected beforehand that she had no wound there at all and she had only been feeling Harry's blood pump. He cleaned the hand with a quick spell, and then tried the standard healing spell on her hand and it too failed. Fortunately for her, that wound bled very slowly, so it was not life threatening.

The two healers looked at each other. Gray only shrugged, but Davies looked very thoughtful.

"Well?" Tonks finally asked.

"To be honest, all the standard healing textbooks would give up at this point."

"That's _NOT_ an option!" It was Ginny not Tonks that had shouted the objection.

Healer Davies looked at her not bothered in the least by her outburst, though Gray's look showed he thought her to be rude. "I know. I won't give up because I know who this is and though I don't believe everything I read in the paper, I know enough about him to know that he could be the Chosen One. If he is, I want to do my part by helping him to be able to do his part." That gave the older healer shocked looks from the other three, but no one said anything.

The healer picked up Ginny's hand again and reexamined it very closely. Looking at her and yet looking through her, he spoke as if far away, "I wonder..." Coming back into the present, he refocused on Ginny's face. "Do you have your wand?" She nodded and carefully reached down to her pocket and pulled two wands out, one of which she handed to Tonks, who recognized it as Harry's.

"Good, for the moment, lay your wand on the bed next to him. I want to teach you a spell." She was puzzled by this, but did as she was told. Davies gave her the trigger word and showed her the motion, as well as having her wave her hand several times until he was satisfied. "Pick up your wand, and when you're ready, I want you to pull back the pad with your left hand and then do the spell. I know it will be hard to do when you see the blood coming out, but you must ignore it and do the spell as quickly as you can. Understand?"

Ginny nodded, but Tonks had a question. "I trust Ginny, but since she's never done this spell before, what happens if she gets it wrong?"

The healer smiled. "That's one of the beauties of this spell. If it's done wrong, nothing happens; no buffalos as Flitwick used to say in class." Turning back to Ginny he did his best to give a comforting smile. "All right Ginny, I know you can do this. You've shown yourself to be an exceptional young woman, so I know you'll do this correctly. One last piece of advice: Don't think of this as working on Harry, think of this as an exercise in your Transfiguration class; that will help you. Go ahead whenever you are ready."

Ginny looked at the healer. He was old enough to be a grandfather, and looked like he would be a kind one too. Taking his words of encouragement, she thought about sitting in Transfiguration class and working on a mouse. She didn't want anything to happen to the mouse, but it was only a mouse. She mentally went through the motion in her mind one last time. Taking a deep breath and ignoring the blood dripping from her wounded hand, she pulled the pad back and tried not to focus too hard on what was in front of her as she did the spell.

When her wand came to a rest, she looked closely at Harry, as did the other three. Blood still came out, but it was a very slow ooze. "Excellent Ginny!" The healer told her. "Now do the same spell one more time, that should finish the job." Hopeful, she again did the healing spell. Everyone looked and noticed the blood had stopped oozing; it merely sat there, as the wound was still open.

"Curious. All right Ginny, a new spell for you." He showed her a different one. When she'd done it, they noticed the hole had filled itself back in and there was a very thin layer of skin there now. He smiled, "Again Ginny." Again there was progress to the point the skin over the wound was as smooth as the skin around it, though still quite pink, or maybe a light red. "Good work young lady. I'd say he owes you one, or maybe two because if you hadn't put your hand on the wound as fast as you did, he would have bled to death. However, he'll get to return the favor later."

"Huh?"

"When he wakes up later, I'll teach him the spells and have him heal your hand. In the meantime, let's wrap it up. That will hold you since your hand is not bleeding profusely like his wound was."

"I don't understand Lawrence. How did you know that would work?" Gray asked as he started to bandage Ginny's hand.

Looking at Tonks and Ginny in what appeared to be an apology, Davies said, "I didn't, but the facts made it similar to a case I once read about long ago. As we had nothing to lose if it did nothing, while everything to gain if it worked, it seemed reasonable." He turned to look at the girl again. "Ginny, I'm afraid I don't have the answers to the questions you and Harry will be asking each other soon about all this. However, I will promise you that I will research it in my off time and get back with you as soon as I can. I'll even come visit you. It would be nice to see Hogwarts again, as well as Poppy. She used to be one of my students at the school for Healers."

By that time Healer Gray was finished with Ginny's hand. "I'll get someone to move him to a room. You'll need to stay overnight as well; with a changing screen in the room, you can stay with him if you like," Davies told the girl who nodded that it would be fine. "When your parents show up, I'll explain what happened and that you'll be all right."

"Please, don't tell them about the healing problem, not if it will get better soon." She saw a questioning look on his face. "My mum will have trouble handling it."

"While I'd like to do that for you, the law says I must tell your parents since you're underage," the healer explained.

"If you must, then please talk to my dad alone, and explain my wish, and be as vague as you can."

He smiled at her, truly an exceptional young woman. No wonder the young man liked her. "I believe I can do that." Looking to Tonks, "I also need to talk to someone about Mr. Potter. Do you know how I would get in touch with his guardian?"

Tonks smiled at him, "You're talking to her now."

Davies laughed. "How convenient. Someone will be here soon to move him to another room. He should wake up in time for dinner." He looked back to Ginny. "I'll come by and we'll deal with your hand then. Assuming that goes well, I believe the two of you should be able to leave tomorrow morning." As there were no questions, the two healers went out the door. Ginny and Tonks exchanged a look of relief at Harry being healed.

A few minutes later they all went to another room, this one for sleeping overnight and it had two beds in it. Ginny's parents were not to be found, which suited Ginny at that moment. Harry was taken to the back bed and the changing screen was erected between the beds. The nurse helped Tonks get him into some pyjamas. Ginny was also given a set and allowed to change.

She'd just finished and was sitting up on the bed very comfortably when her mother came rushing to the room, but stopped and came through the door very slowly; her father was there too. Ginny managed not to laugh at her mum's caution. "Oh Ginny, are you all right? I was so afraid for you. If Alastor hadn't been talking to me I would have been there for you."

"It's all fine, Mum. I'm doing pretty well and I'll get to leave tomorrow morning. I've got to stay overnight so they can make sure, and so I can watch over Harry."

"Watch over him? He has Tonks here. And look what happened when you were with him. I don't think he's so safe to be with Ginny, even though I do still like him."

"Mum!" Ginny was barely holding her temper in check. "Yes, I'm going to watch over him even with Tonks here because two wands are always better then one. As for what happened when I was with him, I am almost sure that the spell that hit him was aimed for me. So if it wasn't for Harry, that spell would have hit me in the back and you wouldn't have found me in the hospital." Molly looked stunned.

"Molly, she's probably right," Tonks tiredly said. "The nurse told me just before you got here there were nearly twenty people injured on the platform, not just these two. Fortunately no one was killed, and while Harry apparently did receive the worst wound, the same slashing spell was used on others. They got lucky and didn't have it hit them in the chest." She had failed to mention that Harry and Ginny did seem to be the focal point. Molly didn't need to hear that, at least not right now.

Ginny saw the worried look on her mum's face, but at least she'd stopped arguing. She also saw Healer Davies step into the doorway. "Mr. Weasley," her father turned, "may I have a quick word with you?" When her mum looked like she was about to get up too, the healer added, "It's nothing special Mrs. Weasley, why don't you stay with your daughter; I'm sure she'd appreciate that. Your husband can fill you in when he returns in a minute."

Molly looked torn. "I would like it if you stayed," her daughter told her, though the reason she wanted her to stay was not what her mum imagined; but that seemed to make up Molly's mind. Her mum nodded and sat back down. Arthur patted her shoulder before he left with the healer.

They walked down the hall a little way to an empty waiting area. "Mr. Weasley, I'm Healer Davies and I worked on your daughter and Mr. Potter. First, please don't worry; she'll be fine, as will the young man." Arthur's relief was visible. "I'm keeping them here overnight as a precaution, and because I want to do another exam later this evening, so they might as well stay here."

"Why do you need to do another exam?"

Here the healer had to walk a fine line between his patient's wishes and the law. "They were affected by a rather unusual spell that no one knows. I fully believe we've taken care of the problem and reversed it, but I really prefer to be safe now rather than assume and be sorry later. It's my nature as a healer."

"I see..."

"They really will be fine. I would be extremely surprised for them not to pass the exam this evening and then be able to leave early tomorrow morning. In fact, they'll probably be upset at being released in time to make their first class," he joked. Arthur laughed with him, more in further relief than because he found it funny.

"Two small things before I let you return. Your daughter was concerned about how your wife would take all this and didn't really want much shared beyond that fact that she had some bumps and scrapes which we've taken care of." Arthur raised an eyebrow at that. "I don't want to intrude into your family, but I thought you should know so you can determine how to work with her desire."

"I see. I don't understand what would be so difficult for Molly, but the two of them have been having problems seeing eye to eye lately."

The healer chuckled. "Having had three daughters myself, I understand. It's part of their age as they finish the growing up process."

"I think that's true in this case too. What was the other thing?"

"I need you to take your wife to dinner or tea this evening when I do the exam. Ms. Tonks will not be there as well. I need to ask them a few questions about how they feel about the injuries, and I've found that teenagers generally don't give me complete answers when their parents are there. If you're uncomfortable with me being there alone with them, I can have Healer Gray join me."

Arthur thought about that for a moment. "I can do that if it will help." The healer left and a very thoughtful Arthur Weasley slowly walked back to his daughter's room. When he got there, he'd decided that it would be good for Ginny to be at Hogwarts for a while.

* * *

It took Harry nearly four hours to wake up. During that time Tonks was always there, sitting in a chair at the foot of his bed wand in hand at the ready. Remus had come by for a few minutes to check on both of them and almost got hexed when he walked in. After he got her to agree to go home to shower and change clothes after Harry awoke, he told her he'd leave "mama bear" alone until then. She almost hexed him again, but he was glad to see a smile on her face when she threatened him. Remus promised to return that evening long enough to allow her to leave and clean up.

Ginny was the first to notice he was awake. She'd been lying on her side watching him, and though she didn't know how, she knew he was awake and sat up quickly to get a better look. Tonks saw where she was looking and looked over in time to see him start to flutter his eyes.

"Harry?" Tonks rose and stood by the head of the bed. Ginny got off hers and walked over too.

"Who hit me?" they heard him croak as his eyelids tried to stay open but didn't seem to want to. The two women looked at each other and grinned. Molly and Arthur came over to join them. Ginny picked up his glasses and put them on him. As he finally got control of his eyes, he looked around and saw everyone there, and he saw a very unfamiliar surrounding. "What happened?"

"You had a little accident with a few Death Eaters," Tonks told him. "You're in St. Mungo's but you should be able to leave and go to school tomorrow."

Looking around again, he caught sight of the long red hair and put his hand out to her. "Are you OK?"

"Yes, Harry, nothing a few healing spells and a good rest won't cure." Somehow he knew that was the truth, and yet he knew there was more she hadn't told him. Finally he saw a tear streak going down one cheek.

"Why the tears, Ginny?"

"Oh Harry!" She couldn't take it any longer and all but bawled all over him. "You were hurt and it was so close for a little bit. I've never been so scared in my life."

"Is that why my chests feels so sore?"

"Yes."

He tried to think back to what happened at the platform. It had all taken place so fast, not only starting without warning, but he thought the whole fight took maybe a minute at most. Playing it through his mind, he suddenly remembered the last few seconds. "No Ginny, the scariest part was seeing the spell come at you and I couldn't get my shield there in time."

Ginny didn't say anything to that; she just stood there and held his hand. Sensing she wasn't going to let go anytime soon, her father got one of the chairs in the room and put it next to Harry's bed for Ginny to sit on. Her look was one of deep gratitude as she sat down and stayed there the rest of the day, whether he was awake or napping. Her mother looked on in concern, but for once didn't say anything.

As it neared time for dinner, Healer Davies returned. He asked the three adults to come out into the hall. There he told them that he was about to do the follow up exam and suggested they go get dinner themselves, or perhaps some tea. Tonks asked about waiting down the hall where she could still see the door; and that was cleared. Molly was not happy with it though and the healer finally had to insist, though he promised a summary when he was done.

When the adults had left them alone for the first time that day, Harry looked at Ginny. "How are you really doing?" They'd told him the details of the fight that morning after he'd been up awhile.

"I'll be fine now that I know you're going to live. Oh Harry, I can't believe how hard that was to endure; seeing you laying there with so much blood coming out of you."

"Hey, I'll be fine thanks to you and your quick thinking; but that's not was I was talking about. You still have a bandage when everyone says my injury was worse; and I've never seen Madam Pomfrey not able to heal a basic cut."

She decided she was going to have to tell him. "Harry, something happened during the attack. No one seems to know what spell was used that hurt you so badly; but your wound didn't want to heal. My hand is the same way."

"Then why aren't I still bleeding? Someone healed me."

Ginny gave him a very tender smile. "I healed you."

"You? But you're not a healer."

"I know, that's part of what's so weird. Healer Davies couldn't do it, but when he taught me the same healing spell and I did it, it worked. He thinks that if you do the healing spell to me, my hand will be healed too."

"Yeah, that is all weird. I wonder why that is?"

Ginny didn't get to answer as the Healer came in at that moment. "Ah Harry, it's so good to see you awake. I'm Healer Davies. Are you feeling better?"

"Mostly, as long as I don't have to move too much; that hurts."

"Yes of course, lots of strain on new tender flesh," the healer explained. "You will have to be careful for the next three to four days. No stressing your body in any way, and that includes Quidditch, which I hear you're very good at."

"Thanks!" Harry liked the old man; if he had a grandfather, he'd hope he was like this.

"Now, if you'll unbutton your top, I'd like to see what wonders your body has accomplished in the last seven hours or so." While the healer patiently waited, he turned to Ginny. "You don't mind seeing his bare chest do you Ginny?" he asked with a smile. Ginny blushed furiously and managed to eke out a small no. "I didn't think you'd mind." Now Harry was blushing.

Davies did a diagnostic spell with his wand and "uh hmm'd" to himself. "Yes, very good on the inside; the body is healing nicely. The outside is looking much better, not as red." He peered very closely at the wound. "Curious, but I'll come back to that in a minute."

"Your turn, Ms. Weasley." She showed her hand to him and he removed the bandages. As he did, it started its slow bleed again. "Yes, no change I see; but, let's try to fix that shall we? Mr. Potter, where did they put your wand?" Ginny retrieved if from the table next to his bed for him. "Fine, hold onto that for him please my dear. Now, here's the spell I want you to learn."

A couple of minutes later, Harry felt quite comfortable with it, and performed it on Ginny's hand. The bleeding immediately stopped, though skin did not grow back. "Amazing," the older man said. "Now here's the second spell for you to learn young man." A few more minutes later and Ginny had light red but smooth skin covering the palm of her right hand again.

"Now to return to my earlier question. May I see your hand my dear?" She offered it to him and he held it by her wrist, then slowly pulled it and her towards Harry until her hand was again over the wound area on Harry's chest. Moving and twisting it slightly, he seemed to be looking at something very interesting. "Yes, I think so. Do you see it Ginny?"

"I think so, the colors make it very hard though."

"Oh? What do you see?"

"The handprint is quite clear to me. The big hole that was from the spell dominates the area in the middle of the handprint, but there seems to be another marking in the middle of the big hole, like a hole in a hole."

"I suppose I'm not surprised, though I can just barely see the outline of the handprint. The smaller hole as you call it is not visible to me at all. What do you see Harry?"

Harry tried to look down. "What she describes, but it's harder for me to see my own chest. Other than the big mark from the spell that hit me, how did I get the smaller mark and handprint?"

"Honestly?" The two teens said yes in unison. "I don't fully know," admitted the healer. "However, I do have an idea. I read a very old article long ago that described a medical case with a few similar facts. The only reason I remember it was because it was so odd. Apparently two people had formed a bond with each other. The odd part, and why I remember it, was their bonding wounds, if I can call them that, would not heal unless they were healed by their bond mate, or whatever you want to call the other person. Unfortunately, that's all I can remember being mentioned, which isn't much to go on."

"But sir," Ginny questioned, "surely people exchange blood all the time. You make it sound like this is extremely rare."

"You are correct in both statements young lady. That means there is something else happening that isn't known; and as we do live in a world of magic, that's going to make the catalyst hard to pin down. The most obvious guess is multiple spells hitting you simultaneously and interacting in an unknown way. But as I told Ginny earlier," he was looking at Harry now, "I'll research this and see what I can come up with. If you have anything strange happen to you, or to the both of you, I'd like to know when I come visit you. If you feel it's an emergency, feel free to have Madam Pomfrey get a hold of me here. All right?" They agreed, it seemed the reasonable thing to do.

"Now, I've got a few questions for you. You don't have to answer, but it might help me help you. So if you don't mind, would you tell me how you feel about today?" They spent the next twenty minutes discussing the day, their thoughts on it, on getting hurt, what it would be like to face their friends, especially those who'd been hurt too.

When they'd finished talking, Davies told them, "I'm happy with your progress. You both may could leave first thing in the morning as long as nothing unusual happens to either of you during the night."

As the healer stood to leave, Harry stopped him with a question. "Healer Davies, why did you ask us all the other questions? No one has ever done that before."

He smiled at them. "Call me strange Harry, but I believe a person is more than just a body. They have a soul if you will, what many people call a heart, and what most think of as their brain or mental self. Many healers just treat the body and send the patient on their way again when the body is healed. However, I believe your mental self counts too. I wanted to know if your mental self was going to be all right." Harry raised an eyebrow. "Yes, Mr. Potter, I believe you'll be all right, and you too Ms. Weasley. You've both had some hard times I can tell by your answers, but you're also handling it. You could probably do better, but you'll be fine. I might suggest you talk about things that bother you to someone else you trust; that helps more than you realize." The teens thanked him and he left.

Going out the door, the healer saw the three adults down the hall looking at him. Even Tonks appeared anxious to his eye. Unsurprisingly, Molly was the one to ask how they were.

"They're doing quite well. It's simply amazing what a young body can do with some rest. As I explained to them, especially Harry, no physical activity of any kind beyond sitting in class for the next three to four days."

"What about the questions you asked them? What did they say?"

She was the worrywart he decided and could see why Ginny had difficulty with her as her father had said. "I'm happy with what I heard; they appear to be coping quite well. I did encourage them to talk to someone they trust when they had any doubts or problems."

"But what did they say about today?"

"I'm sorry Mrs. Weasley. As her parent, you are entitled to know what's happening. I've just told you that, but the details are confidential." As she was about to interrupt again, he was a bit more forceful. "I'm quite serious Madam. If I told all the confidential things I hear, that would get out and others would never talk to me again, which would severely limit my ability to help them."

At that point, Arthur put his hand on his wife's shoulder and squeezed. "Thank you, Healer Davies, we understand." Molly shot him a look that said she did not understand because it was her daughter.

"They may leave any time after six tomorrow morning, assuming they feel up to it. Good evening." He strode away from the strong-willed woman as quickly as dignity allowed.

Meanwhile back in the rrom and as soon as the healer had left, Ginny looked at Harry quizzically. "Harry, have you felt any differently lately, like having any extra feelings?"

"How do you mean?"

"I don't know how to explain it, but it's like I'm more aware of you. Also, I'd almost swear I can feel questioning coming from you right now. It's very small and I have to think or feel hard for it, but you're there. And earlier, I knew you were awake before you opened your eyes."

Harry thought about that. "Maybe, when I first asked you what was wrong with you, I knew you were telling me the truth, yet I also knew you weren't telling me something. Uh, think something hard and let me see." He watched her close her eyes and a look of peace came over her face. He was about to close his eyes and search when a deep feeling of love filled him.

"Oh Ginny, that's amazing!" She opened her eyes and looked at him. "Is that how you really feel about me?" She got a very big smile and slowly nodded. "I felt this feeling of love I've never felt before in my life. OK, try this." Harry closed his eyes and thought about flying, specifically when they were playing follow the leader on their Firebolts for the first time.

"Yes, happiness or maybe joy," she told him. "What were you thinking about?" He told her. "Hmm, so not thoughts really ... see what you get with this." She thought of a memory.

"Ouch! Hurt feelings or anger. So feelings, not thought?"

"I think so," she told him. "That was when mum and I had our row about me growing up. Harry? I'm not sure I want anyone to know about this, it's so, so personal."

"Yeah, I know. You think this is a result of the spell earlier today?"

"Not sure what else it could be." She thought some more. "Well, maybe not the spell but maybe it triggered something. What did he say? A catalyst? You think it triggered something that was already there?"

"Don't know. I think we'll have to wait for his research."

"You know Harry; I can't wait to get back to school so we can have more time alone to talk like this."

"Me too, though I can think of something else that will be easier when we get there," he grinned at her. She grinned too and leaned forward and kissed him gently on the lips.

Harry and Ginny were still enjoying the time alone whispering to each other when the adults returned. Though Harry's top was pulled to, it was still unbuttoned. He suddenly felt uncomfortable, as Mrs. Weasley seemed to be trying to look at his wound, so he buttoned his pyjama top.

Mrs. Weasley also made a big deal about Ginny's hand now that it was uncovered. When asked why it'd had a bandage on it before, Ginny smoothly answered, "To protect it for a little while." She felt a bit uneasy about telling the half-truth to her mother, but she didn't want to stir up trouble right now.

As Ginny returned to her bed a few feet away, the two teens were both thinking "tomorrow" at the other.

* * *

.


	11. Hogwarts

Version: 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

**Chapter 11: Hogwarts**

Harry woke a little before seven in the morning and was feeling much better over all. He didn't know how he had gotten so lucky, but he hadn't had a nightmare last night while staying in the hospital. He wasn't sure how he would have explained it to Mrs. Weasley. Tonks probably would have understood, he thought.

He decided to get up and use the small bathroom attached to the room before all the females did and he had to wait. Unfortunately, Tonks heard him and woke up too; she made a noise and woke the remaining two Weasleys - Mr. Weasley had gone home last night, as he had to work the next day.

As they made ready to leave, a nurse came by with their discharge papers. She also did a last check on Ginny's hand, which showed a medium pink circle in her palm that was about the size of the end of Ginny's thumb. Or at least that was what the nurse and two guardians saw. Ginny and Harry also saw a faint larger circle there. The nurse also took a quick look at Harry's chest and pronounced it good, even though the large wound circle was now a light pink. Apparently, only the teens saw the handprint and small circle, as those marks weren't commented upon by anyone. The teens smiled at each other about their secret.

They both pulled their very small trunks out of their jeans from yesterday and Tonks enlarged them. Digging in there, they found clothes for today as well as a school robe. The robes they had yesterday were assumed gone forever. That bothered Ginny a bit, but not Harry; he planned to replace them soon.

Once dressed, after the changing screen was put back into place, Tonks shrank the trunks again and they walked to the Floo point. Tonks took the students through to Dumbledore's office, which had been connected temporarily to the Floo Network for them, while Molly went home to an empty house. Dumbledore was gone, probably at breakfast they guessed since it was about that time. Tonks shooed them out and told them to take their trunks up to their room, have breakfast, and with a laugh she tacked on to go be good students. They left with a grin.

Knowing they'd have to go to the dorm before classes anyway, they went straight to the Great Hall to eat. There were a lot of welcomes from the Gryffindor table, and a few from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff too. Harry noticed a few sneers from the Slytherin table, but he did his best to ignore them. They had grabbed a spot near Ron and Hermione and started looking at the food to decide what they wanted when Dean Thomas and Lavender Brown walked up.

Harry wasn't quite sure what to say, but Dean saved him. "Hi Ginny, hi Harry. I'm glad you're both alright." Lavender was in agreement. The battle at the train platform was the topic for the next twenty minutes for all the students within earshot. Both Harry and Ginny discussed it, but shared very little about what happened in the hospital. Harry was feeling nervous about how Dean felt, and he thought Ginny was about the same based on what he _felt_ from her. Finally Ginny couldn't take it anymore.

"Hey Dean," she said as quietly as she could and still have him hear even though he was sitting across the table. When he looked up, she went on. "I wanted to make sure that everything was alright between us. Is it?"

"Oh sure, no problem." He looked like he really meant it. "I mean, you have a good reason in Harry there, and I think I have to agree with you about us. I think it would have been fun, but I don't think it would have lasted very long." Lavender turned to look at him while he said this. That got his attention and he blushed a bit. "Well," he continued, "Lavender and I spent some time together over the summer too and I think we're starting to look pretty good to each other." Now Ginny understood why he hadn't sounded that serious in his letters.

"I'm glad, Dean," she told him. Harry agreed.

About that time Professor McGonagall started handing out their timetables. In comparing, Ginny saw she started with Potions; Harry started with Defense. As they'd missed the welcoming feast, they wondered who the teacher was this year. Not seeing any new faces at the teacher's table, they asked Hermione.

"Professor Andrew Cobb, an ex-Auror Professor Dumbledore said last night. We'll find out first thing I see." There was much curiosity among the sixth years.

Ginny pointed to a number of blocks on Harry's schedule that were labeled "Independent Study *". "What are these?" she asked.

Harry pointed to the bottom where she saw, "* See Professor Dumbledore". He quietly told her, "That's my time with Tonks and whoever she brings with her." Ginny nodded her understanding.

In fact, as Harry looked closely, he noticed he had an independent study period immediately after lunch today. He'd no more than seen that when he also became aware of the Headmaster coming up behind him. "Ah, Mr. Potter and Ms. Weasley; I'm glad you are both safe." The Headmaster then leaned over and spoke in a quieter voice. "I would be pleased if the two of you would join me in my office for lunch. I'd like your opinion on a matter." They both agreed to come. Looking at Harry with the twinkle in his eye, or maybe a slight wink Harry thought, he added, "And if you should have any Mars bars, please bring one." The conversation was apparently over because he stood up and walked off.

Ginny asked her boyfriend, "What did he mean by that?"

Harry shrugged, "Probably his password. I guess we can meet at his stairs at noon. Come on, let's go drop our trunks off and get our books."

Ginny noticed a few girls looking their way, so she reached down and grabbed Harry's hand, which caused him to smile at her though he was totally unaware of what she saw, but he felt the small waves of jealousy and did his best to return love to her, along with his amusement. They walked back to the common room before separating to their respective dorm rooms to deal with trunks and books.

* * *

In Harry's first class of the day, Harry had to face the Slytherins. The NEWT level classes were generally smaller, so they had students from all four houses in it. Defense was no exception. Since the Slytherins tended to take the back rows, Harry sat in the front row, that also gave him a good look at Professor Andrew Cobb, ex-Auror. Harry thought he looked like a tough no-nonsense kind of guy with short graying hair, and after a few minutes of talking about what their class was going to be like, he struck Harry as very fair-minded.

He also seemed to approach class differently than most teachers, because he gave them homework in the first fifteen minutes.

"As I'm doing in all my fifth through seventh year classes, I want every one of you, no exceptions, to come up with an exercise program, because long duels take a lot of stamina." The professor seemed to pause for a second, during which Harry thought he heard a small snigger from the back. Then Harry saw him look towards the back of the room as he continued. "I'm sorry Mr. Malfoy, but any exercise you receive in a broom closet isn't going to do you any good, assuming you ever get the opportunity." That caused lots of laughs, and as Harry turned backwards to look, he saw Malfoy was red with anger at being caught and made fun of.

Once the class settled down, Cobb started on the lesson. "Today we're going to work on our shields. In addition to your normal _Protego_ which mostly stops spell causing them to bounce a few feet at most, we're going to add a highly reflective one, which if you're really good, you can use to your advantage because you can bounce your enemies spells back at him or her, although at a slightly lesser strength." Harry thought that was pretty cool.

"Also for next class, write me an essay discussing each type of shield, the good and the bad points. Now for the practical... Yes, Ms. Granger?" Harry had noticed Hermione's hand go up.

"Professor, how long does the essay need to be?"

"Oh, right, I guess I need to explain my essay policy. When I assign an essay, I expect the question, topic, or whatever it is about to be a complete answer or discussion. If you can do that in one paragraph, good for you. If you need a few feet of parchment, then use a few feet. I just want it to be complete without extra fluff that will cause me to go to sleep because I'll have a lot of essays to read. Any questions on this?" While he looked around the room, he did give Hermione a little longer look.

"Thank you, sir," she told him looking quite happy. Harry could only imagine how many rolls of parchment she was going to go through this year for this class.

"Where were we, oh yes, the practical. Everyone, get a partner and stand across the room from each other and practice. Use minor hexes only. Anyone who uses more than a minor hex," Harry noticed he seemed to be looking at the Slytherins, "will get to have me test your shield." After a short pause he added, "And I won't be using a minor hex."

When they first cast the charm, Harry noticed that everyone's shield was curved with the edges toward them. Generally, that was a good thing because when a spell hit it, it bounced away from you, but it was hard to control the reflection. One cast he made though, he noticed that his shield was almost flat, which made aiming much easier. It was an accident, but he was pleased with himself for finding the variation.

As the bell rang to end class, Cobb quietly came over and asked Harry to stay behind. Ron and Hermione didn't wait as he'd already told them he had lunch scheduled with Dumbledore.

"Mr. Potter, I noticed you found the secret to a flat shield."

"Yes sir. I noticed the size of the loop in the cast seems to make the difference."

"Very good. You should experiment with some of the other spells. You'll find that small changes can pay big dividends. I'll see you at three."

"Sir?"

"At three, you have an independent study period then I believe?"

"Yes sir; with you then I take it?"

"Right Potter. Be back here then; and have a big lunch, you'll need it." Harry wondered what was in store for him, but he guessed he'd find out. He left his new professor to go find his girlfriend and the Headmaster.

* * *

Ginny was already waiting for him at the gargoyle guarded stairs. He said "Mars bars"; they both watched the stairs start moving. "After you," he waved his hand in the direction of the stairs. She stepped on and he quickly got on too.

She turned to him with a slight frown. "Why do guys always do that?"

"We're taught to. I think it's so that if you fall you'll land on us instead of hurting yourself. However, my sixteen year old brain has a better reason."

"What's that?" she asked as they came to the top.

"We get a better view this way," he told her with a smile as he looked at her backside, which was right in front of him. She saw where he was looking and felt his quick wave of desire. She blushed deeply, yet she was happy he thought she looked nice.

When they got to the door, Harry raised his hand to knock, but Ginny put her hand up to stop him. "I need a moment." He looked down at her and saw her face was still quite pink.

"I don't know why, I like what I see." He was giving her that melting smile again. That only made her condition worse.

_He's getting good at this,_ she thought. She liked his flirting, but she really didn't want to look like this when she went into the Headmaster's office. Unfortunately, Harry started knocking and she heard "Enter." She took a deep breath and hoped the Headmaster would be pre-occupied enough not to notice her complexion for a few minutes.

"Mr. Potter, Ms. Weasley, do come in. I have a quick lunch waiting for us before we get started." Indeed, there were sandwiches, stew, and pudding for three on a table on the left side of the office. Dumbledore was quite friendly and polite, making light conversation with both of them about their classes. Harry was beginning to think he could work with Dumbledore again, though he still didn't fully trust all the old man's decisions.

Finishing lunch, Dumbledore rose. "I think we should have our discussion in the sitting area." He gestured for the students to precede him to the other side of the office. It had a comfy looking chair on one side, and two similar chairs on the other, with a low coffee table in the middle and his large Pensieve sitting on the table.

Upon sitting, Dumbledore started in. "I must apologize in advance for potentially giving you indigestion as I bring up some painful memories, but I really would like your opinions about yesterday. I believe there was significance in what happened, and potentially a shift in the strategies of the war. If that is true, we need to change as well or it will go badly for us." The students gave small nods as he paused for their understanding. "Now, I have asked Ms. Tonks for a copy of her memory from yesterday and she was kind enough to give it to me. Unfortunately, while it doesn't show everything, it still shows quite a bit as she tried to keep an eye on you Harry. This will allow us to watch most of the battle from a distance so we can see almost everything, then we can then discuss what happened and attempt to figure out why."

Harry grabbed Ginny's hand and went quite still for a short moment. Ginny gave the Headmaster a quiet "OK" and Harry finally nodded yes.

"I'll put it on project mode so we can see it here above the Pensieve. I think that will be less stressful for everyone." Picking up his wand, the Headmaster tapped it twice and the scene started."

They watched Platform 9 ¾ spring into view. Tonks swept the entire area with her eyes, obviously checking that it was safe. They saw themselves come into view, along with Ron and Hermione who then left to board the train. The short conversation with Tonks was there, though her vision didn't stay on them; it kept jumping around as she was on alert. As they walked away from her, Harry tightened his grip on Ginny's hand and felt hers tighten in return.

Without warning, the black robes and white masks suddenly appeared and spells started flying. Harry was momentarily rewarded with the observation that he had conjured a shield and fired his first stunner before Tonks did, though it was not by much. The battle was fierce, but they couldn't quite see it all, as Tonks was busy defending herself and taking out Death Eaters. Still, the two of them were either in her main field of view or at the edge the vast majority of the time.

It was also interesting to see his and Ginny's movements. They were almost dancing. Ginny's shield failed and then came back up. It was coming he knew, just a few more seconds. He saw his Pensieve self look over to see the Death Eater start to shoot a spell, and he saw his projected self react and then be hit and go flying to the ground. Ginny had reacted almost instantly and seemed to fling herself toward him. Abruptly, the scene changed as if everything was rising, and Harry understood that was Tonks squatting down. Her wand arm with wand came out of the bottom of the picture and a golden dome suddenly covered them. Spells bounced off the dome and maybe five seconds later he saw Mad-Eye running in from the right side and some dark red robed Aurors Apparate in. The Death Eaters seemed to disappear as quickly as they had come, then the projection ended.

Harry and Ginny were both very quiet. After a moment Dumbledore broke the silence. "I must confess that if I'd had to watch that without knowing the outcome ahead of time, I feel like I would have had a heart attack. I'm very thankful both of you came out of the battle relatively unscathed, at least after the healers helped you."

What did one say to that, or to any of it for that matter Harry thought. "It all happened so fast."

Dumbledore agreed. "From the time they arrived to the time they left, it was about fifty seconds. My best guess is there were twenty-four of them, though there may have been a few more; and we captured seven of them. No one of significance if it matters to you. I know this will be hard, but what I'd like you two to do is to let go of your emotions as best you can so we can analyze this battle. We will attempt to guess at goals later, but what observations, or facts, did you see?"

"Not sure, but I think they probably Portkeyed in," Harry started. "I seem to remember seeing one stumble and thinking it odd I didn't hear any Apparation cracks. I don't know about them leaving."

"I believe you are correct Harry," confirmed Dumbledore. "I've studied this several times now and I see them all touching their robes in the same way just before they leave."

"We, meaning the two of us, were near the middle of the platform when it happened," Ginny said. "Could they have had an observer to tell them when to come in?"

"Yes, I noticed that too," the Headmaster agreed. "That could have been done several ways, but the easiest was to watch you go through the barrier and wait a set amount of time before Portkeying in. The train station on the Muggle side is so crowded it would have been easy to hide there and do that."

Ginny gave the next one too. "They seemed to leave quickly when we fell down and Tonks put that shield over us, and when more help came. It was like they wanted a quick victory or if that didn't happen they didn't want to lose too many people."

"Excellent Ginny," Dumbledore praised her. "I'd noticed them leaving when more people came, but had not considered the cutting of their loses aspect - very insightful. That would be a new strategy for them."

"Might it mean they don't have as many people as we think?" Harry thought out loud.

"Possibly, we shall have to investigate that. What else?"

"The two of us were obviously the targets, even if they did come in around the entire edge of the platform so they could have gotten anyone." Harry struggled at figuring this out. "It was almost like they seemed to always try to fire at us whenever possible, unless they were being attacked and had to defend themselves, like with the ones Tonks was dueling. Otherwise, everyone else on the platform was left alone. Does what I said make sense?"

"Yes Harry, it does. That you and Ginny were the targets is obvious. Most of the other injuries were fairly minor, and they generally happened when the person was standing between the Death Eater and you two."

"I don't think I like thinking about that," Harry said darkly.

"Very understandable. Anything else you observed?" Dumbledore looked at them both who only shook their heads no. "I did see one other thing that I thought interesting, but I'm not totally sure about it, so I must ask. Ginny, did you feel like you were being pulled or pushed at the end just before Harry got hit?"

She thought about it. "Maybe. I do remember losing my balance like I was tripping. Why?"

"If you don't mind, I'd like to watch only the very end again, with your commentary." Dumbledore tapped his wand on the Pensieve and the scene started again. A couple of taps and it sped up dramatically, and another tap and it stopped just before the end. He mumbled a word Ginny didn't catch and tapped the basin and it started playing very slowly, another tap and it stopped as Harry started to move.

"Harry, you saw the spell about to come, what were you trying to do?"

"I saw him and somehow knew it was aimed behind me, and that Ginny was there. So I tried to move my shield to block it."

"Very noble considering that left you wide open. Now let's watch Ginny closely," the old man commented, and he tapped the basin to restart it. They watched Pensieve Ginny closely and Harry could have sworn he saw her start to go one way then back again, and said so.

"Yes," Ginny agreed and was thinking very hard. "I do sorta remember starting to trip, then stopped like I ran into something I couldn't see. I'd forgotten about that."

"Hmm, that almost makes sense." Dumbledore was very thoughtful sounding. "I hadn't noticed before, but look where your wand is pointing, Harry."

It was obvious now that one knew to look for it. He had shoved his shield too far and it had gone in the direction Ginny was tripping. Harry became alarmed and his voice level went up. "Are you saying someone tried to summon her with an _Accio_ and my shield accidentally blocked it?"

"I believe you are correct Harry."

That alarmed the young man more. "So were they after Ginny to use as bait to get to me?"

"Or both of us?" Ginny added.

Dumbledore shrugged. "It's impossible to know, but I'd say that Harry moving his shield at the last moment to protect you, Ginny, either stopped the summoning as it was starting, or else sufficiently weakened it so it didn't succeed."

The Headmaster saw Harry and Ginny look at each other and stare very intently at each other for a few moments, as if they were talking without words, or so it appeared. He also noticed they were still holding hands. "Is there anything else that happened that I need to know about?"

After a moment of looking into Ginny's eyes, Harry finally spoke out loud. "Maybe something has changed, but I can't describe it other than to say I feel like I care for her more."

Dumbledore looked at Ginny, but she looked down and she felt like she could literally feel Harry's reluctance to talk, which mirrored her own feelings; their secret was for them. "I too think there has been a change in the way I feel for Harry, but it's something I can't fully describe either - except maybe as deeper."

The Headmaster looked at them thoughtfully for a moment then let the topic go as he wasn't sure anything did happen. It could just be feelings from having survived a near tragedy together.

Glancing at his clock, Dumbledore was surprised at how much time had passed. "Ginny, I seem to have kept you far longer than I'd planned; and Professor Cobb is expecting you soon, Harry." He got up and found some parchment and a quill to scribble a note, which he handed her. "You'll probably be a bit late to class but this should help you."

Ginny squeezed Harry's hand one more time. "I'll see you at dinner," she said as she left.

"Now Harry, we have a little more time before you also must leave to meet with Professor Cobb. I thought we might talk about your classes, and especially about learning the more academic only classes via Pensieve memories to free up more of your time for the independent studies, or trainings as Tonks calls them."

"Excuse me sir; did you say learning by Pensieve memories?"

"I did," the twinkle in his eye was very pronounced. "It's not normally done as it takes a Pensieve to do this, and they are not found in every store after all, and the memories or lessons are somewhat expensive to obtain. Fortunately, I do have a Pensieve, and neither of us is poor. As I feel the burden of not having you trained more already, I shall take the expense upon myself; plus," he smiled, "you have more years to need what's in your vault for a young lady and a family than I do."

Though he couldn't say why, he felt embarrassed. Though when he thought of his favorite young lady, he also considered what they'd just been through and that concerned him. "Professor, if I can do this to have extra time for training, can Ginny do it too in case they are trying to get her?" He watched the Headmaster lean back in his chair and consider that. "I'll even pay for it."

"You care that much do you Harry?"

"Yes sir, I do," he replied very sincerely. "In fact, I can't imagine her not in my life. I know that must sound strange since I'm only sixteen, but it is how I feel." He felt he could have gone on, but it was private enough he didn't want to.

"Very well, Harry; I shall talk to Professor McGonagall and have her schedule changed. Her independent study periods will not necessary line up with yours, but I shall make sure she receives as much extra training as we can give her."

Harry was amazed and frankly thankful at that answer. "Thank you, sir! You don't know how much it means to me to help keep her safe."

"After having watched the battle, I think I have a small understanding." Harry felt a small part of his iciness towards the Headmaster melt after hearing that statement. "I believe you have a private lesson with Professor Cobb shortly. I shall start arranging all of this and Tonks will give you more details at your lesson tomorrow." Thanking the Headmaster again, Harry got his book bag and left for the Defense classroom.

* * *

When Harry arrived, a class of second year Hufflepuffs and Slytherins were leaving. He smiled as he watched them leave, wondering if he was really that small in his second year. "Come in Harry and close the door."

Harry did as he was told and took a seat in the front row. Cobb finished digging a small bag out of his desk before he came and took a chair in the desk next to Harry. He handed him a small piece of parchment. "Put this in your pocket to look at later. I don't normally do students homework for them, but I want you to carefully consider what's on there."

Harry couldn't help but at least glance at it and noticed it was a list of exercises.

"Is this the minimum I should do, sir?"

"I'm not saying that Harry. It's something I want to you consider when you're coming up with your answer. Now," he said as he shifted topics, "Tonks has asked that I give up some of my free time to help you train."

"Thank you sir, I really appreciate that."

A slow hard smile crept to his face. "We'll see if you still feel that way a month from now. I'm going to work you hard."

Harry felt this was going to be worth it. "I'm up for a challenge, sir."

"Good! Let's start your first one then. Tonks suggested that we need to work on your defenses, specifically your Occlumency as a defense from visions."

"You're an Occlumens?"

"I like to think so. Now I understand Snape tried to teach you last year."

"Yes sir, it didn't go very well though."

"What did he tell you to do?" Harry described the clearing of the mind, and removing the emotions. "That's it?" Harry nodded. "That greasy git left out the last step!" The colorful description of his Potions master endeared Cobb to him. "You need more than the normal shields to protect you from these mind attacks; you also need permanent walls."

Cobb got up and moved to a clear spot on the floor. There he opened his little bag and pulled out seven crystals about the size of a Knut, which he put in a circle about six feet across. Harry also noticed they were the six colors of the rainbow plus a clear one in the very center. When he was finished, he told Harry sit near the middle on the other side of the clear crystal. Casting an _Imperturbable_ charm on the room and a locking spell on the door, which put a block of wood across the door to the doorframe to physically hold it closed, he sat down next to Harry.

"Harry, with a complex charm I'm about to do and these crystals, we will have what you might call a psychic cage around us. While it exists, no stray thoughts or mental attacks can get to us. That means it will be completely safe for you to remove your existing Occlumency shield walls. Of course, before the field goes away, you must build new shields or walls. Yes, you need to clear your mind, and you need to push emotions away while you do this, but you must also erect walls and defenses in your mind to help keep thoughts and thought probes out. Does this make sense to you?"

"Yes it does. In fact, I wondered before why he didn't tell me something like that."

"I don't know, but it doesn't matter now since I'm going to help you. Now there are three important things you must remember. First, you must build those walls and defenses; build them out of whatever mental image or material you think is strongest. Second, there will be more than one path in to block, so look carefully. Oh, and you'll probably have some small paths to block later, but you can do that as you find them. Third, this is a very draining spell to hold, so you'll have about one hour to tear down and build back up. If you finish early, please let me know so I can quit early; otherwise, whatever state you are in when the hour is up is how you will have to deal with _Him_ until you can finish building your defenses on your own. I won't be able to do this spell again for another week. Understand all of that?"

"Yes sir. I'll do my best to hurry."

"Hurry, but don't be careless in a rush. When you see the cage form, that's your cue to start." Cobb stretched then seemed to enter a meditative state. After about a minute, his wand started to move in a complicated pattern and one by one from red to violet, the crystals produced shafts of light. The clear crystal was the last, and it shot up a white light. At that point, all the beams of light started curving towards the white beam in the center and met forming what appeared to be a globe around them, as the cage seemed to extend into the floor. Harry was about to start when he heard a grunt of "Go" from Cobb.

Harry closed his eyes and was astounded by the complete lack of mental pain for the first time in so long he almost couldn't remember. Then a small amount of guilt intruded as he realized he was wasting valuable time. He started clearing his mind of emotions, pushing them back as he encountered them, even realizing for the first time that Ginny was unavailable to him. That feeling of loss he too pushed away knowing it was only temporary.

Looking at his defensives clearly, his old attempt was pathetic he decided. Cobb was right, he needed to just clear it all away and start over. He'd always liked the big battleships in Dudley's war movies, so he pictured plates of battleship steel, shaped for the paths in his mind. He closed down the paths that he thought Voldemort came through one by one, especially anything he thought that concerned his scar.

When he was pleased with his work, he opened his eyes to see the dome of light still there and beads of sweat all over Cobb's face. As gently as he could he spoke, "Professor Cobb, I'm done. You can stop now." He wasn't sure if Cobb heard him, but the dome suddenly collapsed and Cobb fell over on his side then slowly rolled to his back breathing great gulps of air.

"Thanks for being quick Harry. I was almost done for. Help me up, I've got a cot already set up for a long nap." Harry helped him up off the floor and watched his professor walk to a camping cot. He unlocked the door for Harry as he told him, "Eat a large dinner, get lots of rest tonight, and come talk to me sometime tomorrow," he said as he sat down.

Harry thanked him again and left with his bag. As he shut the door, he saw it glow blue briefly with a locking spell. He turned around and was hit with a wave of joy and a red-haired girl at the same time.

She was crying as she held her arms tightly around his back. He looked around and was glad the corridor was empty; this seemed like it should be a private moment. "Oh Harry, I'm so glad I found you! I thought I'd lost you forever, but you just sort of came back a minute ago and I was trying so hard not to get my hopes up."

His shoulder was getting wet but he didn't care. "It's fine now, Ginny." He slowly rubbed her back to comfort her. "I'm so sorry to put you through that. If I'd know it was going to happen I would have let you know. I promise."

"I know you would have," she could feel his honesty. "It was just so scary to search for that part of you in me and not be able to find you. I was sitting in History of Magic and I wanted to know what was happening with you so I searched and searched and you weren't there. I think I would have run out of class if it weren't almost over. I knew you should've been here, but when I came here the door was locked and I couldn't get in." Her tears had stopped, but Harry could now feel her upset feeling as she relived the memory. "What happened to you?"

"Professor Cobb created a psychic cage for me to build my Occlumency walls against Voldemort. He said it would stop all mental attacks and communication, but at the time, I didn't think about it affecting you. After I'd gone in there, I did notice that I had lost my connection to you, but I knew it was for only an hour at most. I'm so sorry you had to endure that, Ginny." He again drew her fully into his arms and gave her a tight hug.

"Did it work?"

"I don't know. Uh, hold on, and do your best to think about nothing for minute." He closed eyes and tried to relax his thoughts, but they kept coming back to Ginny. She felt so good to him and she felt more alive in his arms than ever before. His eyes snapped open. "I think I'm going to have to let go of you Ginny, you're too strong for me to block like this," he told her looking down into her eyes.

She reluctantly stepped back and he closed his eyes and tried again. Yes, better he thought. He cleared his mind and his emotions and felt his mental walls. Then it hit him, his scar still wasn't hurting. He opened his eyes again to see her looking at him and smiling. "You're feeling happy. Does that mean it worked?"

He laughed with joy. "It's the first time my scar hasn't hurt in a long time. I feel good! Let's go find dinner before it's over. I'm starving." He stepped back over to her and put his arm around her shoulder to walk her to dinner. Again that special feeling of Ginny hit him as his hand brushed her neck; it was very small when he wasn't thinking about it, but it was there. She didn't let him move though and gave him a quick kiss. "What was that for?" he asked.

"Just a quick reminder of what you have so you don't leave again," she replied in a superior tone of voice that seemed to say she should have the last word.

He enjoyed her little flights of fancy. "Do you think you can remind me again later?"

She put her arm around his waist and giggled as she told him, "I think I can do that."

— — —

_{A/N: I need to add this note to be completely honest about the one thing in the story. The Harry Potter universe is of course JKR's, this story and all original characters are mine. However, I did borrow one idea from "mjc" on SIYE, and that is learning by Pensieve memories. When I read his story, my thoughts were like, "of course, that's such an obvious extension I bet JKR does that in book 7." As we now know, she didn't. However, the idea just seems so reasonable to me, assuming you have a set of memories that were created to be absorbed and not just viewed. So my thanks to mjc for that idea, and Mike, I really hope you finished your story one day. :-}_

* * *

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	12. Discovery

Version: 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

**Chapter 12: Discovery**

Everyone started getting settled into the normal routine the evening after the first day of class, except for the first-years who were still somewhat lost in wonder at everything in their new school. The threesome, now a foursome, grabbed a table in the common room and started on their homework.

There was discussion about Professor Cobb and his class that day. Ginny felt a bit left out because her first Defense Class wasn't until tomorrow, but she joined in on the laughter at Malfoy's misfortune of being overheard. She also got a forewarning on her yet to be received exercise homework.

There seemed to be disagreement on exactly what the professor wanted. It wasn't until this point that Harry remembered the paper given to him during his private lesson. Pulling it out, he read it carefully before mentioning it to his friends. "Uh, I think can answer the question about what he wants."

"How can you be so sure, Harry?" As usual, it was Hermione who wanted to make sure she got her homework correct.

"Well, he gave me a suggestion to consider."

"When?" she all but pounced on him.

"Patience, Hermione," Harry said with a smile. Hermione took a deep breath to tell him what she thought, but then remembered their conversation at the end of the summer. She slowly let the breath out and tried to smile normally. Harry gave her a knowing smile. "He gave it to me during my independent study class this afternoon. It says:

_200 push-ups  
200 sit-ups  
3 miles running  
all daily_.

Hermione looked thoughtful, but Ron's eyes were bugging out.

Ginny was the one with the first response. "Do you think he meant something like that for everyone? Or just for you Harry?"

He was sitting next to her and decided to reach over and pick up her hand while he was thinking about the answer. Like that afternoon, as he touched her, he felt just a little bit more of Ginny was there. Slowly he said, "I'm thinking this was for me." Ron seemed relieved. "But it's no big deal, I'm doing a little over half that now anyway."

His girlfriend smiled at him. "I think it's good for you too." That normally would have given him some embarrassment, but the feeling of desire from her really turned him red. Trying to escape, he turned to Hermione. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm not sure yet, but my parents have always done a lot of walking in the evenings, and I used to go with them. I might do that."

"Walking, that's all?" Ron was amazed.

"Not just regular walking, Ron. Going at a fast pace for a couple of miles can be very invigorating," she informed him. "What are you planning to do?"

"I am on the Quidditch team, that's a sport."

"I'm sure he had more than that in mind, Ron." Hermione was in her normal sure of herself mode again.

"We'll see," he told her.

Amused, Harry turned to Ginny. "So you have any thoughts on what you want to do, since you're going to get this homework too?"

She gave him a knowing smile. "I think I'll continue with what I've been doing." He gave her a "what?" look. "I'll go running with you, and counting all your other exercises." That and another wave of emotion made him start blushing again.

"What is it with you Harry?" He looked over to her brother. "She's got you turning red at the simplest of comments."

"Don't know Ron, I guess she's found me in a good mood." He turned back to look at his girlfriend with a knowing smile. Their secret was going to get them into so much trouble if they weren't careful. On the other hand, he couldn't imagine anyone else he'd rather be in trouble with. Now she blushed slightly as she felt his love for her.

Ginny's moment was suddenly and rudely interrupted by her brother. "Hey! Where did you get the new robes?"

_Why did he have to pick now to notice?_ she thought with exasperation. Instead she told him, "They were a gift, don't worry about it."

He missed her clue to drop the subject and her explanation seemed to get her brother even more worked up. "A gift?! You shouldn't have accepted them. And who from?" he asked demandingly.

Harry thought the situation was getting ugly so he tried to speak up to stop it, but he saw a look of "Keep quiet and let me handle it" from Ginny which he obeyed.

Ginny's voice dropped to a quieter yet more threatening tone. "Ron, let it go. If someone wants me to look a little nicer and gives me a little extra money to add to mum's so I can get new robes, it's none of your business."

Ron put all the pieces together and finally understood. He looked right at Harry, "You did it, didn't you? You bought her a premier broom, and now her robes. What's next? What do you want with my sister?"

That stunned Harry, he thought his dating Ginny was fine with Ron. Several replies came to Harry, but as he opened his mouth he just shut it again because he realized each innocent answer he tried to give could be taken the wrong way. After three such attempts, he just left his mouth closed not sure what to say. Ron watched his friend open and shut his mouth without answering and couldn't take it, so he snorted his disgust as he grabbed his books and stood to leave for his dorm room. He didn't hear another chair scraping the floor.

As Ron turned around to leave in a huff, there stood Ginny in front of him red-faced and wand in her hand. He felt the blood leave his face as he saw her and knew what hex she would use if her wand moved. He still remembered Malfoy with bats all over his face and it hadn't looked pleasant.

"Now you listen to me, Ronald Weasley," the soft but very intense voice of his sister commanded him. "I know that you want to leave and go brood about your pride, but I'm not going to do let you do that. I don't particularly care about what it would do to you for a few days, but I do care about how you're making Harry feel when he tried to do something nice and I don't like the way you're trying to make me feel. So you sit back down right now and we're going to work this out."

Ron realized he had no choice and did as he was told. "Now, other than your stupid pride, which you need to grow up and get over, what's the real problem? Harry has bought or given you armloads of stuff over the years and I've never heard you complain or refuse, so what's your problem?" she asked him.

Asked that way, Ron realized he had no answer. He just knew it was wrong to receive big things you hadn't earned, their parents had always told him that. As he continued to think, he suddenly realized he had no idea why it was that way. It seemed OK to receive little things like Chocolate Frogs, but not big things. Of course, where was the line between little and big? He looked at Ginny who'd sat back in her seat and was looking at him, though her wand was still in front of her and pointed at him. He didn't look at Harry, and was afraid to see what Hermione's face held for him.

Of course, thinking about the problem a little bit more, he also realized there was only one answer that would save him from getting hexed. Finally Ron answered her. "You're right, it shouldn't matter to me. It's just that's what Mum and Dad always told us. I'm sorry, Ginny."

She could tell by his face that he was still a bit confused, but she could also tell he was sorry. Ron had a good heart, it was that he didn't seem to listen to it often enough, or at least quick enough sometimes. "Thank you, Ron," she told him evenly. "Now you've got one more apology to make."

He could see her wand still hadn't moved. With a small mental gulp, he finally looked at Harry who was staring at him without any emotion at all on his face. A flashback to their fourth year when he'd let Harry down by not believing in him then came back haunt Ron now. He knew what he had to do. "Harry, I'm, I'm sorry. That wasn't very fair to you either. I know you didn't mean anything bad by it, I just got carried away."

Harry decided that was probably about as good as he was going to get Ron to admit to, though he thought his friend still had some issues to work through. "Thanks, Ron." He smiled slightly as he was happy to resolve the tension between them.

"Now you may go, brother," Ginny told him sweetly and gave him a small kiss on the cheek as she put her wand up.

Deciding a retreat was still the right thing to do, even though the air was cleared, he stood back up with his books still in his hands and told everyone, "Good-night". With as much normalcy and dignity as he could muster, Ron went up to his dorm room to think. He knew everything would be back to normal in the morning.

* * *

Homework was eventually done and Harry was lying in bed trying to get to sleep. However, he couldn't quite get Ginny off his mind. He started thinking about them sitting together and talking that evening. He started wishing he knew where she was so they could spend more time together. Searching for the part of her within him, he liked the phrase he heard from her this afternoon, he suddenly "just knew" where she was. She was on his right at about the eight o'clock position and slightly down, which made sense as he realized the fifth year girl's room was one floor down.

Excited and amazed, he had to test this out some more. Ignoring the time, he got back up, grabbed his robe, and went back down to the common room. This was so cool, he still knew where she was. He could point upwards right to her. Slowly he walked side to side keeping his fix on her and grinning all the time at the new feeling.

Meanwhile, Ginny was lying in bed not able to sleep either. She started thinking of Harry when she felt a surge of awe from him. Wondering what was happening, she wished she knew where he was; and she suddenly "just knew" exactly where he was. He was off to her left and moving downward. She lay there reflecting on this feeling when she felt him stop in what had to be the direction to the common room, and he was downward.

Getting up, she grabbed her robe and went down to join him. As she tied it on, she could feel him making small changes in position. It was so weird.

Harry stopped moving and marveled at this new ability. Then he felt her moving, over at first, then down; she was coming to see him. This was great! He finally saw her descending the stairs in the dim light. Not that he really needed the light to know where she was, but he always enjoyed seeing her.

"Harry?" She was now down the stairs and walking across the floor to him.

"Ginny, it's so cool. It's like I can know where you are."

She gasped. "Me too. I knew you were down here. It was like I could point to you or something."

"Yeah, like a built in Point Me spell that's attuned to you." He laughed softly and she joined him. "Come on," he reached out to grab her hand and the feeling suddenly went away. He looked up at her and froze. She was very still too. "Did it just go away for you?"

"Yeah." She didn't know what to think of that at first. Thinking it through, it occurred to her to back up a couple of steps. The feeling came back and she knew Harry was in front of her again. She could tell by the look on his face that he'd felt it return as well. Slowly stepping forward, she felt it disappear again when she was about an arm's length way from him.

"Weird," he said. "So if it stops when we're close, does it have a _too far away_ limit?"

"I have no idea. We probably won't be able to test that until the next time we Floo."

"Unless this only works for short distances, then it would go away when we were on opposite sides of the school grounds," he guessed.

"Let's go sit on the couch by the fire," she suggested.

That sounded good to Harry so he went over and sat down on one end. As she came over, he patted the cushion next to him and almost got his hand sat on. "I was going to sit there anyway," she teased him a little.

Reaching out to take her hand, he again felt a little more Ginny in him than before, but something else. A tingle? No, not quite, but definitely a touch that was more than a touch. He looked up at her to see her looking intently at him. "You felt that too didn't you."

"Yeah."

He left go her hand and then touched it again. "Sort of a tingle that's not a tingle?"

"Maybe, I think something more like a very light vibration. Or a caress in a touch."

"I thought I felt something like it earlier today when you came and found me. It was like there was a little more you in me than before," he told her.

Ginny thought about what he'd said, and then the meaning of his words hit a second way and she started to giggle.

"What?" he asked.

"Your words, _a little more me in you than before_. That could be arranged you know," she said mischievously. He looked puzzled, he was so clueless about girls sometimes it was cute. Ignoring his unspoken question, she twisted on the couch a little and reached up with both hands for his head. Pulling it down to her, she kissed him.

Harry felt the tingle come back when her hands touched him. Then he felt her soft lips touch his. The surprising and delightful touch was when he felt her tongue. As the kiss went on far longer then the one when he'd given her the broom, he felt he finally understood the allure of snogging.

He didn't know how long it had been, but they eventually pulled apart. He felt breathless, and yet ... "You said earlier today that you'd remind me again why I shouldn't leave you." Their smiles met again for a few more minutes.

A yawn finally intruded upon their fun activity. "We really need to get to bed," Ginny admitted when she'd recovered from her stretch.

He pulled her up off the couch and they walked over towards the stairs. "Ginny, all these special things that are happening to us, they're our secrets, aren't they?"

"Yes, Harry. As far as I'm concerned, for everyone else it's explainable by we're just so in love we can't help but be aware of each other." She gave him one last quick kiss before they parted. _Yes, he's the best_, she thought as she went upstairs.

* * *

The next morning, Harry was slightly tired, but this time he knew it was only because he'd stayed up too late. There had been a bad dream, something about running and never getting anywhere, but not a real nightmare. He couldn't really recall what had happened, but he was actually happy about that.

During breakfast, Hermione started asking all the sixth years if they were taking Potions this year. It seemed that only she, Harry, Ron, and Parvati where signed up for the NEWT course.

With a squeeze of her hand for good luck, Harry left Ginny for his first Potions class of the year. While he was definitely not looking forward to it, he wondered what would happen now that he had better Occlumency shields. Of course, even with them, he'd still have to be careful of his emotions so he could reinforce his shields as needed.

As the four Gryffindors walked down to the dungeons, Harry motioned to Hermione to hang back. She raised an eyebrow at him but slowed down a little letting Parvati and Ron get a little ahead. He leaned over while they walked and whispered, "If it was up to you, who would you want to partner with in class?" She gave him a questioning look, which caused him to roll his eyes at her temporary denseness. "Do you want to work with Ron this year? I don't care who I'm with."

Comprehension and a light blushed dawned on her. She thought hard about that, remembering that Harry and Ron normally partnered in Potions. The problem was getting a good grade conflicted with her desire to be partnered with Ron. Those two things weren't necessarily impossible together, but they generally weren't found in close proximity. They came into view of the classroom door before Hermione looked back at him and whispered, "Yes. Thanks Harry." The odds were against her achieving both at the same time, but she felt she could rise to the occasion.

The four Gryffindors sat together, as did the six Ravenclaws, and the three Hufflepuffs, and the five Slytherins, which included Draco Malfoy. They all looked at each other as the door slammed and Snape walked into the room with his black robe billowing behind him.

"This is the NEWT level Potions class. I have been forced to lower the entry level requirements of this class." As he scanned the room he seemed to stop at the table with the Gryffindors, then he looked right at Harry. "I'm sure some of you will show what an unwise decision that was." Harry felt the gaze upon him and a probe against his shields. He did his best to ignore his feelings and push on the backside of his shields to reinforce them. The gaze moved on.

"You will all be held to the highest of standards, and it will be upon your own actions that you will be judged. As the class is so small, you will each work alone. Expect your work to be tested on you." He paused and smirked as he was again looking at the Gryffindor table. "Start here," his wand tapped the blackboard and the words "Draught of Living Death" appeared. "I, of course, have the antidote which will revive you, assuming you've brewed your potion correctly. Begin."

Harry looked at Hermione who shrugged at him. The eighteen students each found space at one of the work stations and began working. Since it was a double lesson, they had time to finish, barely, if no mistakes were made. Doing his best to ignore his emotions about Snape, Harry pulled out his book and potion ingredients and went to work. He remembered Professor Cobb's words about "hurry but don't be careless in a rush" and decided that they applied here too.

Things seemed to be going well until he felt someone behind him. Putting his finger at his place in the instructions so he wouldn't forget where he was, he turned around to find Snape looking over his shoulder. The professor gave him a silent sneer and walked on. Turning, Harry saw Hermione watching the scene with a look of concern in her eyes. He gave her a small smile and went back to his work.

Ten minutes before the class ended, Harry finished. He'd barely had time to bottle a small amount of it up when Snape bellowed "Time's up". A Hufflepuff girl dropped the container she was putting her potion into and it shattered. "Bottle whatever you have now. It's time to test." The girl pulled out another small bottle and managed to put some in this time.

Snape had them line up. As he came to each, he told them to lie down and then drink up. He did several students at a time to give the potion time to work; then he went back and put three drops of the antidote in each student's mouth to revive them. Harry and his housemates were to go second after the Ravenclaws.

When it was the Gryffindor's turn, they sat down to get ready. Snape came up and looked at Ron's potion before doing anything. It was supposed to be a black liquid, but Ron's was a medium purple. "I don't know why I'm doing this Weasley, but I'll give you a choice. You can drink that and pray you live, or you can take a zero for the day. Which is it?" Ron studied his potion carefully then in a small voice he agreed to take the zero. Harry and the other sixteen students of the class had passing potions.

As the Slytherins were revived, the bell rang. "Clean up and you may go," the Professor announced and left for lunch. Everyone worked quickly except for Ron who appeared very dejected. Harry was trying to figure out what to do when Hermione quietly told him, "Go on back with Parvati, I'll stay and help Ron clean up." Parvati had overheard and nodded.

Parvati looked at Harry with a calculating smile as they left the classroom to make their way to the Great Hall for lunch. "So Harry, are you and Ginny really an item now, or are you merely testing the waters?"

Harry looked at the girl he'd taken to the Yule Ball in his fourth year. He wasn't totally certain how to answer this. Being pursued by girls was a new experience for him. He finally answered, "You, uh, didn't see us holding hands yesterday?" Maybe the indirect way was best he decided. He didn't feel talking about it directly; he didn't feel like he knew her well enough.

"I did, but that doesn't always mean what it looks like you know."

No, Harry didn't know. He really thought boys and girls only held hands for one reason - they were going out together! They were up the steps that lead from the dungeons and were heading towards the Great Hall. "I know you've seen us sitting together at all the meals."

"Doesn't mean a thing, Harry. Unless you're by yourself, someone will be sitting next you." She still had a sickly sweet tone of fake innocence.

As they continued walking, he became frustrated with her as he didn't know what else to do. They entered the Great Hall and as they came to the Gryffindor table, he saw Ginny not far away looking at him, obviously wondering what was happening. He realized she could probably feel his frustration. Then an idea came to him, and the thrill of a good joke filled him, which made Ginny look at him quizzically for the sudden mood change. Nearing his seat next to Ginny, he told Parvati, "Maybe this will answer your question." He leaned down and gave Ginny, who was looking up at him, a kiss full on the lips. While it wasn't long, it wasn't a short peck either. He stood back up, put his hand possessively on Ginny's shoulder, and turned to his Potions classmate and asked, "Does that answer your question?"

The Indian girl seemed somewhat taken back by the display of affection but recovered after a few seconds. A bit more coolly she said, "I guess it does." She turned to find a seat a little way down the long table.

As Harry sat down, Ginny looked at him with amusement. "I don't mind being kissed, Harry, but what was that about?"

It wasn't until he turned to look at her and answer her question that he realized the entire Gryffindor table and a large number of students at the other tables, that he could easily see, were looking at him. A quick glance up towards the teacher's table showed an amused Headmaster, a disapproving Professor McGonagall, and a Tonks who almost appeared to be choking. Ginny was still waiting patiently. "There was some, uh, uh, disbelief, that we were an item. And, uh, I was setting the record straight." He felt like he was burning up under all the stares; he wondered how long his face would be red.

Ginny smiled and said, "Well, I'm glad we've got that cleared up, Mr. Potter. Pumpkin Juice?" She held up the pitcher before pouring some for him. Inside, Ginny was quite pleased. She was sure the message had been clearly sent to the female population of the school: Harry Potter is taken.

* * *

Harry noticed that Ginny was still in an exceptionally good mood when he left her after lunch. He thought he'd lost most of his embarrassment as he was about to go up the stairs and he heard a grating drawl behind him. "So, the Weaselette finally got her wish, huh Potter? Too bad she doesn't have better taste. She's almost not bad looking now."

He didn't know how Malfoy did it, but trust him to ruin a good time. Harry had already decided he wasn't going to take it from the git any more, and now seemed like a good time to start. If Draco wanted to open his mouth, Harry was going to be happy to fill it with spells for him.

Harry spun and drew his wand so fast, Malfoy didn't have time to do anything but gulp. As Harry was trying to decide what spell would be best, Professor Cobb came around the corner. Taking in the situation in the blink of an eye, he looked at Draco. "Mr. Malfoy, if you want to be insulting, go tell it to your mum and leave everyone else alone. I may not be available to save you next time." He stared at the blond haired student until he left. Looking at Harry he said, "Careful, Mr. Potter. A great number of people have done things they regret because of their temper." He walked on past Harry.

By the time he met up with Tonks in their training room, Harry still wasn't totally sure if Cobb was just trying to defuse a fight, or something else. Walking into the room, he saw Tonks sitting at a desk looking over some papers.

"Wotcher Harry! Welcome to your new training room." It was a previously unused classroom not too far from the Gryffindor Tower.

"Wotcher Tonks!" he returned.

"Good to see you. Thanks for the laugh at lunch by the way, though I wished you could have timed it so I wasn't swallowing at the time." She started chuckling at the memory.

"It really wasn't that funny."

"Sure it was. I could tell you were embarrassed by the attention afterward, but if you could have seen Parvati's expression while you were kissing Ginny, not to mention all the downcast looks from many of the girls. It was such a priceless moment." His Godmother was trying to hold in the laughter and mostly failing. She could imagine the reaction Remus would have when she shared the scene with him.

"Yeah, sure Tonks. So what are we going to do today?" He tried to get them off the embarrassing topic.

Tonks had mostly stifled her laughter by now. "Right. Your learning by Pensieve lessons starts tomorrow. We'll do Runes first. You'll be able to do about a term's worth in a week." That awed Harry. "So you'll make up the four years you've missed so far in about two months. You'll keep on going to finish them off. Then before Christmas break when they're giving OWLs and NEWTs for home schooled students, you'll take your OWL the second week of December and your NEWT the third week."

"I can do that?"

"No problem. There are very few tests taken at that time of year, so you can practically wait around and get your scores the same day. The only real requirement to take your NEWT in a subject is that you've passed your OWL in the same subject."

"Wow, I didn't know that."

"Most students don't need to know that. After the Christmas holiday, you can take the seventh year in Defense, Charms, and Transfiguration, then do the last two years in History of Magic. You can take your NEWTs in these four classes at the end of this year. Or at least that's the current plan unless we come up with something better."

"I bet that will drive Hermione crazy!"

Tonks chuckled. "Probably. Anyway, that will make the rest of this year for your three core classes a bit boring, but there are things you learn in the sixth year that aren't covered in the seventh, so it won't be that bad. Besides, Andrew and I will be giving you extra work in those subjects anyway to keep you from getting too bored."

"Do I have to do all the homework a normal student would do for these classes I'm learning by Pensieve?"

"No Harry, you couldn't possibly do it all. You'll just have to do selected essays, though for Defense, Charms, and Transfiguration, you really need to do all the practical exercises. However, since I expect you to be able to do everything the first time, it won't be as time consuming as it sounds."

"But I'll still be very busy it sounds like."

"I won't lie to you Harry. You'll have very little free time. I'm sorry about that, but it needs to be this way for you to get through everything we have planned. And you need everything if you're to have a decent chance of protecting yourself and Ginny, much less going after Voldemort. I'm not trying to scare you Harry, but I am trying to be realistic."

Harry thought about that for a moment. "I can't say I like the, uh, fullness of my schedule, but I do appreciate you being honest with me and also doing your best to help keep Ginny safe."

"We all want you to be safe too Harry, and I'm sure Ginny would appreciate that."

He looked down for a moment and wondered if he would survive the war, but there was no way of knowing. He also considered that if he did, he'd probably have a beautiful red head to share it with; that gave him motivation to win.

"All right, Tonks, that's me. What about Ginny's schedule?" Harry asked.

"Same sort of thing, except that she'll learn a year of History, Runes, Astronomy, and Arithmancy so she can take the OWLs for those in December, and she'll gain those time blocks back for these lessons as well as for extra training like what you'll be getting."

"Wow, she'll have more free time than I will."

"Not really," the Auror told him. "Remember back to last year, classes at that level are shorter, mostly single block with some doubles, while yours this year are mostly doubles. We'll also throw in some Defense, Charms, and Transfiguration trainings for her too, but they'll mostly be on specific topics that will be immediately useful."

"I can't wait to see her reaction to this."

"You haven't told her yet?"

"No," Harry admitted.

Tonks picked up a slip of paper off the desk. "Here, that's her new timetable and it starts tomorrow. I'll let _you_ tell her."

"Thanks ..."

"No problem, Harry. Now, for the rest of our time, I want to give you a basic Auror entrance exam, dueling-wise, to see exactly where you are. That will allow me to plan future training sessions better. So get out your wand."

For the next hour and a half, Tonks put him through his paces. Most of the time he fought her to a draw, but when he didn't he only won once. "Harry, I'm really proud of you. You're very good, most of this seems to come naturally to you I think."

"Thanks," he told her.

"Don't mention it; but I will mention this, to my regret probably," she gave him a big grin. "Don't forget that your wand movements only need to be proportional. They teach you the larger movements in class to make it easier on you to learn, but there's no reason not to do them smaller as long as you can keep all the parts small. Watch this."

She used a motion like Harry had learned in class and one of the chairs levitated. Setting it down, told him, "Or you can do it like this." He watched her wand barely move, but the swish and flick was obvious when he looked. The chair rose again just like before. Setting it down she quizzed him, "And the reason to do that is ...?"

He gave her an understanding smile that showed lots of thoughts running through his brain. "Speed."

"As I said, I'll probably regret telling you that because you seem to be naturally faster than I am anyway, but you need every edge you can get in a fight."

"Tonks, how come they don't teach us this in class?"

"Students shouldn't be having to defend themselves in life and death situations, unfortunately you are in that position. This is, obviously, taught in Auror School. That mini-lesson aside, if I had to place you according to a standard, on the practical portion, I'll definitely give you an _E_ and you're close to an _O_ on your Defense NEWT right now. If all you needed was this one topic, you could start Auror School tomorrow. This also gives me a good idea of what we need to do with you. I'll talk this over with Andrew and see what ideas he has too. Speaking of which, I know you need to go see him. He should be in his office. So off with you."

As Harry was getting his bag and leaving, Tonks called to him, "Be sure to have Ginny give you a kiss for all your hard work today." Harry blushed and left as quickly as he could.

Harry found Professor Cobb sitting in his office. At his knock, the professor beckoned him in and waved him to a chair.

"How are you feeling, Harry?"

"Great Professor! I haven't felt this good in a long time. My scar has quit hurting except for a very brief buzz once or twice today."

"Excellent Harry. Those _buzzes_ as you call them are break-in attempts and signify a small path you haven't blocked yet and which He hasn't quite been able to take advantage of either. Or it means one of your blocks is leaking and needs to be reinforced in someway. Find a quiet time and do that, perhaps when you go to bed tonight."

"Thanks Professor," Harry said sincerely. It was very nice to have a professor who wanted to help you, unlike another he could name.

"My pleasure, Harry. Now, I need to finish these before dinner time."

Harry took the implied dismissal and left.

* * *

It wasn't until dinner that Harry finally saw Ron and Hermione again. Ron looked better, but there were fleeting moments where he saw his friend's face sink. The Potions lesson must have really hit him hard. He decided to try to help Ron out. "Hey Ron!" His friend barely looked at him. A quick glance at Ginny showed a worried sister. "Katie posted a notice about tryouts for the Quidditch team on Saturday morning." Katie Bell had indeed been made captain of the team.

"Oh?" That did perk Ron up slightly. Harry and Ginny both tried to keep him going there. Hermione even put up with all the Quidditch talk as she quickly realized what they were trying to do.

After dinner, the foursome went back to the tower. Ron and Ginny went up to their dorm rooms and Harry held Hermione back in the common room to ask about Ron.

"Oh Harry," she looked like she was about to burst into tears. "We never showed up at lunch because that was how long it took me to get him to even speak to me about anything. Class this afternoon was abysmal; it was like he just gave up on school. Can you talk to him please? You're his best mate. You must know something to say to him that will snap him out of this mood?"

"Well, ah, the Quidditch tryouts was my attempt." Hermione looked shaken. Looking at her, and thinking about his friend, he knew he'd have to do more. "All right, that was round one. I need to do something else for a bit and hopefully that will give me time to think of something. Try to keep him busy and I'll talk to him later tonight, OK?"

"Thank you, Harry," she said with relief and gave him a hug right as Ginny came down from her dorm room with her books. Letting go of Harry, Hermione turned around and saw Ginny, without pause the older girl ran up the steps to her dorm room.

Ginny felt absolutely nothing from Harry at the moment. No, that wasn't quite true. Searching very hard, she could sense a little bit of sadness. "What was that about?" She tried to keep her tone light.

"We were talking about Ron and his Potions class."

"Oh," that would explain it she thought. "Got any thoughts on what to do to help him?"

A brief bitter laugh escaped him. "No. I was hoping you'd have a great idea."

"Not really. I can tell you that when he gets in a mood like this, he's probably as hard to get out of it as you are in one of yours."

He gave a sarcastic "Brilliant!"

"I hate to leave you Harry, but I can't study with you here tonight. I've got to go to the library to do some research for an essay."

"Fine, I'll come with you."

Ginny didn't tell him no, but she had to ask, "Are you going to leave me alone enough so I can get my work done?" Her tone was challenging.

He smiled at her. "Actually, I need to do a little research too, so yes." She eyed him carefully but the statement felt truthful so she started walking towards the portrait to leave.

He came with her and when they had gone through, he put his arm around her. They walked slowly in silence enjoying the closeness of the other. As they passed Harry's new training room, his extra homework assignment came to mind. "Let's stop in here for a moment."

"Harry! This is why I asked you before. I don't have time for a snog."

He grinned at her. "What subject is your essay for?"

"Arithmancy."

"Then you do have time," he told her smugly. "Besides, this shouldn't take long and you'll be helping me do my homework so Tonks and Professor McGonagall don't get upset with me." That got her curiosity up. He walked up to the door and put his hand on it just above the handle. The door made a clicking sound, after which Harry opened the door. After they'd gone through, the door clicked behind them and Harry waved his wand to light the torches on the walls.

Ginny saw an old classroom with a few desks, a couple of chairs in a corner, and a large matted area. "I don't understand."

"Welcome to your new training room. Tonks will make the door recognize you tomorrow."

"What do you mean my new training room?"

"You're about to receive extra training just like I am Ginny."

She let her head fall back and stared at the ceiling. "I don't have time for this." Looking back at him, "Do you know how little free time I have, especially with OWLs this year?"

Harry just smiled at her. "Let's go sit and talk for a few minutes. I have news to tell you that should make you feel better." She gave him a look of unbelief. He led her over to the two overstuffed chairs in the corner. Looking around he saw nothing to drink. Pity he thought; then another thought came. He winked her before he said, "Dobby! I need your help."

To Ginny's surprise, Dobby popped in. "Harry Potter Sir! And his Wheezy!" Ginny blushed at that. "What can I help you with Sir?"

"Tea for two please, Dobby."

"Yes, Harry Sir. I be right back." Dobby left with a small pop.

"Harry, I really don't have time for tea."

"Sure you do." She gave him a look that said not only was he pushing it, but he was about to be on the wrong end of a spell. "Hold on a second, I've got something from Professor McGonagall for you that will explain." He fished for the note in his pocket.

"Why do you have it instead of her?" she asked suspiciously.

"Because she gave it to Tonks, who is allowing me to bear the good news." His smile was genuine she noticed but she still couldn't fathom what he was getting at.

Dobby appeared and set the tea service on the small table between the chairs. "Thank you Dobby! You've been marvelous." Dobby got all shy then popped out.

Harry poured and offered her a cup. After she had some of hers, he handed her the paper.

"This looks like a timetable, Harry."

"Right in one, Ginny." She was not amused at his jovialness. "It's your new timetable and it starts tomorrow."

She sputtered for moment. "That can't be! It's missing," she quickly counted, "four classes. I can't drop those for Independent study."

"Ah, but you can because you'll pick those up in Independent Study, and then some. In fact," he was curious as to what her reaction would be, "you'll be taking your OWLs in those four courses in December." Fortunately he was watching her and his Seeker reflexes were ready. He caught her teacup just before it hit the floor. It was also fortunate it had cooled off just enough not to hurt him as most of it spilled on his wrist.

That led him to explain all about the Pensieve learned lessons and everything else Tonks had told him about, including his lessons. He also had to explain Dumbledore's thoughts that it was unknown who the real target or targets were in the attack so they both had to be ready.

She finally came around to getting a grip on it all by the time she'd had two more cups of tea. After a few simple questions, she told him, "You know Hermione is going to be insanely jealous about this don't you?"

He smiled at the thought. "I had considered that. I've also thought about asking if it would be good for Hermione to do this too, with her Independent study being to do research on useful spells and other knowledge."

"She would love that." Ginny then looked a bit sad. "Then what about Ron, we couldn't leave him out. That would hurt him very badly, Harry."

"I know. What's worse, is that I saw the look on Hermione's face when she found out about my Independent Study classes. She was already jealous over them, though she kept her comments to a minimum. I'm afraid of what she's going to say when she finds out you're getting to do this too." Harry was practically wringing his hands and didn't realize it.

Ginny gave that some thought. "I can see that, but maybe you can fix two problems at once." Harry looked at her waiting for the answer. "Talk to Hermione, it'll have to be tonight though. Let her know about the change for me. Also tell her that you'd like to do it for her and Ron but don't know how. Let her figure out how to add Ron. If anyone can do it, it's her."

"You're bloody brilliant!" Harry was ecstatic until he realized what he'd said. "Oops! Sorry Ginny."

She laughed at him. "Don't worry Harry, I'm not Hermione and I've got six older brothers, so I'm not going to correct you for a little colorful language. Though tell me, would it bother you to know I think that way at times?"

Harry looked at her earnest face and honestly considered her question, another opportunity to get to know the real her. "No, not really. That's something that I like about you. You live like you are. You also live to enjoy life."

She smiled and reached out and grabbed his hand and they looked at one another for a moment. "Well," she finally broke the silence. "I guess I don't have to go to the library now, but I think I will anyway to at least a start on my Potions essay due in a couple of days."

"All right, let's go then. I still need to find a book." Hand in hand they went to the library.

Ginny sat at a table with a couple of other fifth years working on the same Potions essay. Harry left her there and started searching the shelves for a book. It took him nearly half an hour, but he finally found one called "The Sounds of Silence". _Who comes up with these titles,_ he thought. Flipping through the book, he saw exactly what he wanted. Making a beeline for Madam Pince, he checked it out. Finding a comfy chair near Ginny's table, he started reading his book.

An hour later, Harry was walking Ginny back to the common room. Inside, Ginny went on up to her room while Harry went over to Hermione who was studying alone. She appeared to be working on their shield essay for Defense; Harry had already finished his. "Can I talk to you for a few minutes? I have an idea but I need your input on it." She put her quill down and gave him her undivided attention. It was the face Hermione wore when trying to solve a mystery. _Good,_ he thought.

"You know how I have those independent study classes to help prepare me for the next time Voldemort comes after me?" She nodded. "Well, Ginny's schedule is changing so she can do a few of those as well." Hermione looked only surprised; that was good he thought. "Of course, what I'd really like to do is to pull you into this as well so you can do some special research for us." Surprise turned into delight on Hermione's face. Here's where it gets sticky he thought. "But as much as I'd like to do that I can't, unless I can pull Ron in too."

Her face fell. "Of course, that would practically kill him to be left out like that."

"Yes it would." He was glad she was the one who'd actually said it. "However, if I can give you a small homework assignment, perhaps we can make it all work out anyway." He had her undivided attention again. "Your first assignment is to come up with a way to get Ron involved. He's pretty good with strategies at chess and Quidditch, so that is one thing to think about, though I don't know what to do with it."

"All right Harry, I'll think about it."

"Thanks! You don't have to have an answer tomorrow, but as soon as we have one, I think I can talk Tonks and McGonagall into it."

"I understand. Have you thought about how to help Ron with Potions?" she asked.

"Yes, I have an idea, at least for the short run. What we just talked about is part of the answer to help him in the long run."

"Right, get him turned around then give him something else to do." Hermione smiled at him. "You're pretty good with strategies yourself, Harry."

The smile left his face. "The real question is if I can carry them out." At that, he got up to go find Ron.

It turned out that Ron was in their dorm room lying on his bed, and because it wasn't too late yet, their three roommates were still out. Harry decided this was as good a place as any to talk to Ron.

"Hey Ron, we need to talk."

"Don't want to." He looked and sounded very sullen.

Harry thought he sounded like a little child. _What to do?_ He hoped a gentle but tough approach would be best. "Ron, I'm your friend and I can help you work through this. You've been my friend in the past, let me be yours now." Silence. "And I've also got something that I need your opinion on."

Ron at least looked at him. Harry was about to go on when Neville walked in. _Damn!_ he thought, _bad timing, but it is his room too. Time for plan B._ "Unfortunately, you'll have to come with me to see it." The slight positive change left Ron's face. Neville left for the bathroom.

"I left you alone when you didn't want anyone around Harry, the least you can do is to return the favor."

At least he was talking. "I'd love to Ron, but unfortunately you don't have all summer. Look, at least come with me and see what I have to show you and talk with me for a few minutes. If you don't like it, you can tell me no and come back here and I'll leave you alone; but at least hear me out."

Ron looked at him and Harry tried to project a look of confidence and hope. Harry just hoped he wasn't looking foolish. Ron started climbing out of bed; he'd still had all his clothes on and had been only lying on the top. Harry reached into his trunk and grabbed the Marauders Map just in case they went too long. He didn't worry about his invisibility cloak; they wouldn't be that far from their tower.

Down in the common room, since Harry was in the lead, he held his finger up to his lips when Hermione looked up. She gave him a quick smile then pretended to look down until Ron walked past. Her heart went out to her friend; she hated to see him this way. Hopefully Harry could pull a miracle out of the hat.

As they went out the portrait hole, Ron asked, "Where are we going?"

"To a room near here where we can talk in private." A minute later Harry put his hand on the door for it to recognize him and unlock. He motioned Ron in and lit the torches. Harry almost ran into the back of his friend because said friend stopped suddenly after two steps.

"What is this place?"

"It's my training room. This is where Tonks beats the stuffing out of me," he said with a grin at Ron.

"What is the blue floor for?"

"Oh, those are mats and where we have our duels. That way when you fall it doesn't hurt so much." He'd found that out multiple times earlier in the day during Tonks' Auror fight exam. "Let's sit and talk for a few minutes." He was again sitting in an overstuffed chair.

Ron looked nervous, so Harry decided to slowly lead him up to the real question. "Ron, last year when we had to chose careers, did you decide to be an Auror because you really wanted that, or because it was the first thing that came along and had the nice benefit of playing a joke on Umbridge?" Harry wondered if it was because Harry chose it, but he wasn't going to give that option unless Ron wanted to say it.

Looking down, Ron mumbled, "Mostly the second reason."

"Yeah, me too." Ron looked at him in surprise. "In some ways, I might still want to be one, but I'm trying to broaden my horizons and consider new things, so maybe I won't be an Auror. One of the many choices I've been reexamining lately. Have you given your career any more thought? Do you really still want to be an Auror?"

It took a while but Ron finally told him, "I'm not sure anymore."

"Understand mate. Here's the thing I've figured out, if you don't want to be an Auror anymore, you don't have to take NEWT Potions. You could drop it as you already have one more than the minimum number of classes."

Ron's gaze snapped up at Harry and it was slightly angry, but Harry plowed on. "I'm not trying to tell you to drop it; but I am trying to tell you that you have choices, and you need to decide what you want to do. If you want to do something that requires NEWT Potions, then you need to find your confidence to ignore Snape and do the class. If you don't want to do NEWT Potions, then stop killing yourself and change or drop the class. But it all hinges on your decision on being an Auror."

The red head's expression softened and went back down. "You're right Harry," he sighed. "I've been thinking about some of that, but you're right that I need to decide about being an Auror."

"And it's all right to change. Talk to people about other things. McGonagall knows you pretty well so she could be helpful, or ask Tonks. Bill or Charlie might be helpful. I'd consider your dad to be a good person to talk to as well."

"My dad?!"

"Yes, your dad. He knows a lot of people and has seen a lot of things. He's also got a good level head on his shoulders so I think he'd give you an answer that's good for you not what he wants you to do."

"Maybe. Mum would be bad though."

"Sorry to have to say this, but I agree. She'd probably tell you what she'd want you to do, not what's best for you. But you know what, Ron? You don't have to decide right this minute. You've got a little time."

"What?!" his friend exploded. "We've got Potions class tomorrow."

"So, get sick. Spill your cauldron. Whatever. One more zero isn't going to kill you in the long run. Next class after that isn't until Monday. You'll have the rest of this week and the weekend to figure out what you think will work for you. I'd even be willing to bet that if you asked McGonagall, she'd even let you borrow her Floo to talk to your Dad or Bill if you wanted."

"You've got a point. Thanks mate."

"No problem Ron. Now, want to help me with my problem?"

Ron shrugged, "Yeah sure, if I can."

"Well, I'd like to pull you into some of this special training with me; but I can't get you into an independent study class unless we know what you're going to do."

"This goes with my other decision doesn't it?"

"No, it doesn't have to, that's up to you. So my problem is, what would you like to do? If you could do anything in the war effort you wanted to, what would it be? Can't promise you'll get to do it, but I can't try to get you there unless I know where there is."

"I don't know Harry, that's a very big question. I assumed I'd join the Order when I turned seventeen and they'd give me stuff to do, you know?"

"I do, but wouldn't you like to be more prepared before that time? I want to be as useful as possible, so I'm training now," Harry told him.

"Makes sense."

"Think about it Ron."

"Would Hermione be doing it too?"

Harry smiled at him. "Yeah, I'd like her to, but I won't bother Tonks and McGonagall about it unless I can get you in too."

"Thanks Harry."

"No problems mate. Come on, curfew starts in a couple of minutes." Harry extinguished the lights and they went back. Ron went up to his dorm room while Harry took his time to let Ron go on up. He could tell Hermione wanted to pounce on him, but she managed to wait until Ron was gone. When Harry joined her table, she verbally jumped. "Well?! What happened?"

"I told him he had choices and that he needed to get his act together and make a decision."

"Just like that?" She was wide eyed.

"Of course not," he laughed, "but that is what it all amounted to. I also tossed out the independent study idea and asked him what he'd like to do with it. He seemed to find the idea interesting."

"Did he give you any answers?"

"He's thinking about both questions." Harry smiled very broadly. "He had a question of his own though."

"What?"

"He wanted to know if you would be joining too, Hermione." She sat there stunned, afraid to hope for progress with Ron. Harry was chuckling as he walked upstairs to do a little bit more reading in his new library book before turning in.

* * *

.


	13. Power

Version: 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

**Chapter 13: Power**

The next day found the sixth years back in Potions. This time Ron's potion came out pink like it should have and he passed. He was ecstatic at lunch.

After lunch was Transfiguration and Harry had no trouble turning his mouse into a cat. Just for fun, he turned the cat into a dog, but he got a reprimand from McGonagall when his dog started chasing the other cats in the room, so he quickly turned it back into a mouse. Harry thought the only reason he'd escaped detention was because he was the first to do it, and it had all happened so quickly that McGonagall was impressed.

The last part of the afternoon was spent in the training room with Dumbledore's Pensieve. Tonks loaded the first lesson, which covered half of the first term, or the first two months of the first year of Ancient Runes. Harry dived in and came back out very quickly. At first he wondered if it had really worked, then he felt the splitting headache. Tonks was ready for this and handed him a double strength headache potion and pointed him to a couch she'd conjured up and told him to take a nap.

An hour or so later, Tonks woke him up and handed him a sheet of paper with runes on it. To his surprise, he found he could read them. Smiling, she handed him two long essay assignments, causing him to groan.

With Saturday morning came the Quidditch tryouts. Katie asked Harry to help her keep an eye on people since he had no real competition. In fact, only a second year girl, Catherine Cooke, had enough guts to even say she'd like to be Seeker. That made Harry suggest to Katie that perhaps they should have a second team, or a backup team, in case someone on the first team got hurt. It would make it easier to get a replacement for the next game, as well as make practices easier. Katie liked the idea. Harry told Catherine he'd work with her so she'd be ready when he left in two years.

The surprises for the team were Colin and Dennis Creevey who made the first team as Beaters. The Chasers were Katie, a third year named Demelza Robins, and of course Ginny. Ginny out flew everyone including Katie. Ginny said it was because of her Firebolt, but the look on Katie's face didn't seem to agree. Ron stayed on as Keeper.

In many ways, Harry had fun at the tryouts, acting like an assistant coach; but he also learned a valuable lesson. He was going to have to be careful about not being distracted during the games. It was far too easy to want to ignore everything he needed to be doing and just watch Ginny. Not only was her pretty red ponytail blowing in the wind pleasantly distracting, but her feelings of excitement and the occasional stab of fear when a Bludger came too close were distracting too. It also caused him to wonder how he would affect her when he made his runs for the Snitch. He knew that he could be very intense during that part of a game. They'd have to discuss this soon.

* * *

Over the weekend, Ron sought out Professor McGonagall and talked to her about career options. When Ron repeated the conversation to Harry later, he was surprised that McGonagall had no suggestions on what would suit Ron, saying it was up to him. She did, however, suggest staying in NEWT Potions for the rest of the term while trying his best; and it if didn't go well, he could drop it at the Christmas break. She did give him permission to use her Floo to talk to Bill and his Dad.

Bill suggested he take the classes that were his strengths. Ron wasn't sure what to make of that since he didn't feel he was exceptional in any of his classes except maybe for Defense. His dad however told him to think about what he enjoyed doing the most and pursuing that. That gave him the thought of professional Quidditch; the problem there was he wouldn't know if it was even a possibility until late next year, when he was almost finished with school forever.

So Ron decided to stay in Snape's class and take Harry's advice of trying to ignore the git and his annoying habits. Of course Ron knew that it was easier said than done.

The following Tuesday night, Hermione waited until it was just she and Harry working late on their homework in the common room before she brought up a topic that had taken much of her spare time lately. "Harry, I have the answer to your question."

"Oh, which question?"

"How to get Ron involved in your special training."

Harry put his quill down and gave her his full attention. "What's your idea?"

"Well Harry, I think that Ron should research battle strategies as well as be there to help test them against you, like a mock war game. Plus he could also help Tonks test you with fighting, because you're going to be out numbered at times and you'll need to learn to deal with that. There's also the benefit of having another person to duel so Tonks can watch you without being involved."

He thought about that for nearly a half minute before he smiled and asked her a question. "Are you suggesting your potential boyfriend be turned into a guinea pig for my spell work?"

She blushed slightly but didn't break eye contact. "Only if you transformed him back afterwards." The joke was so unexpected Harry almost fell out of his chair from laughing so hard.

The next day, Harry told Ron about Hermione's idea and he liked it. Tonks was agreeable though McGonagall had to be talked into it. Dumbledore didn't seem to mind, as it was only the one History of Magic class, though two years worth for each of them. Hermione was thrilled with being able to get one NEWT out of the way in December, but she was more thrilled with being able to do advanced research.

* * *

Harry started the DA back up again a couple of weeks after the term started. He decided to hold them on Sunday afternoons, because that seemed to be the most available time for everyone, though he wasn't happy with it then because it ate into his free time with Ginny. Still, he decided an hour a week for the greater good was a sacrifice he could make. It was still a closed group, though more open and not as secretive as last year. For their own protection, Harry continued to use Hermione's magical contract parchment. Marietta Edgecombe did not join them this year.

Coming into October, Harry was feeling a bit overwhelmed with all he was doing. His Ancient Runes class was going well; he was receiving full marks on all his essays for it. In his three core classes he shared with Hermione, the two of them were vying for best grade, though he had the edge in Defense and Charms. He loved his extra training classes with Tonks and Professor Cobb, and even the occasional class when Professor Dumbledore came in to teach something; but he had limits in what he was able to handle. Worst of all, his together time with Ginny was suffering from his load and from her load, especially with it being her OWL year. To cope, they did their best to have all the meals together and have at least a few hours on Saturday and Sunday for just them to talk and otherwise relax and forget school.

The pressure got even more intense for a short while in mid-October when the first Quidditch game of the year came. Fortunately it was an easy win against Hufflepuff. The score was 310-40; the Snitch had proved to be elusive which stretched the game out. The worst part of the game for Harry was when Ginny almost got hit by a Bludger. Fortunately she saw it, which was part of the problem, for her fear almost caused Harry to fall of his broom. Also fortunately, her new Firebolt had the speed to help her move out of the way in time so the Bludger only whipped through her Quidditch robe and made no solid contact.

Winning the game was not the most miraculous thing to happen that day. Walking back from the game in his happiness and confidence, without planning it or even thinking about it, Ron asked Hermione if she would like to go to Hogsmeade with him in a couple of weeks. Once he'd realized what he'd done, he also managed to suggest that maybe they could get to know one another better. A very happy and blushing Hermione told him yes she'd like that. It wasn't what she completely wanted, but at least he was finally taking a step in the right direction.

Back in the tower after the game, they had the usual post game party. With the win, it was rowdy. What made it more fun was Fred and George showed up to say hello and pass out some mail order brochures, not to mention try out a few new items. There were also a couple of cases of Butterbeer that had shown up for the winners. While Harry didn't know where it had come from, he had a good guess.

Most of the team, including Harry and Ginny, was sitting on the couches and chairs around the fireplace talking and laughing. Harry was running his fingers through her hair enjoying the feel of it as well as the slight tingle of their bond he felt whenever he touched her scalp. Noticing his Butterbeer bottle was empty he sat it down on the floor next to him while he tried to decide how to get another. He really didn't want to get up and let go of Ginny; he hadn't had very much time with her lately so petting her head was very relaxing. The fact that he could feel her enjoyment of it through their bond came into consideration as well.

Looking over at the table and seeing another full bottle just sitting there for the taking, he decided magic was especially good for mundane things. So he pulled out his wand with his right hand as his left threaded back into Ginny's hair again and he felt the tingle as he massaged her scalp. Raising his wand above both of their heads, he spoke, "_Accio Butterbeer_". He'd intended to summon the bottle and drop his wand just as it got there so he could catch it. What actually happened was a near disaster.

Instead of flying across the room at a normal speed, the bottle leapt off the table and zoomed so fast Harry barely got his hand and wand out of the way in time. It flew past him, narrowly missing Katie Bell, and smashed into the fireplace. The noise of the exploding bottle and the spray of the liquid got everyone's attention, not to mention the small flying glass shards which pelted everyone nearby.

"What the bloody hell was that?!" Ron all but shouted. He had been sitting the closest to the fireplace and was liberally hit with both the small pieces of glass and the liquid. While now a mess, he was fortunately not cut.

"Ron, watch your language!" Hermione told him.

"Hermione, look what happened and you're worried about language?" he retorted.

Not really caring about the potential row starting to brew between her friend and brother, Ginny turned to Harry who was giving off waves of worry and fear. "Harry, what happened?"

"I, I don't know. I just did a normal summons on the bottle and it came so fast I couldn't catch it. That shouldn't have been possible." He was truly amazed and a bit scared at what he had just done.

"Harry," Hermione addressed him, "everyone knows the speed of a summoning is a function of the wizards power, the size of the object, and the distance. Since it was a small object that was nearby, you just used too much power."

"But Hermione, I don't have that much power. You try it and see how fast it comes."

Everyone looked at her, and when she raised her wand to do the experiment they all scattered away from her and the fireplace. "_Accio Butterbeer!_" A bottle flew over at a nice easily catchable rate, which she did.

"See," Harry told her, "what I did shouldn't have been possible."

"Try it again Harry, it's the only way to know."

"Are you mad Hermione? Did you see what happened last time he did that?" Ron was almost beside himself.

"We're doing an experiment Ron," she told him matter-of-factly. Ron wanted to run too, but felt that would make him look like a scaredy-cat.

It didn't matter. Harry had already pulled his arm from around Ginny so he'd have a free hand catch the bottle, hopefully, and said "_Accio Butterbeer!_" The bottle came only a little faster than Hermione's did, which he easily caught.

"See Harry," Hermione told him. "It was a fluke. You just used too much power that one time." With that settled, she stood up and waved her wand with a _Scourgify_ to clean up the Butterbeer spill and the glass shards. In a peace gesture, she handed the bottle she'd summoned to Ron and sat back down next to him.

Ginny could feel the doubt coming from Harry, and she agreed with him though she said nothing as well.

* * *

The next day was Sunday. While they caught up on homework in the morning, and had the DA meeting right after lunch, Harry and Ginny's free time for the rest of the afternoon was interrupted when an owl found them as they were leaving the main entrance for a walk around the lake. It had a note requesting both of them come to the hospital wing and it was signed by Madam Pomfrey. Neither of the students knew what to make of that, so they turned around and went up to see her.

Inside, they found her talking to an older man, who when he turned around, they recognized as Healer Davies. "Good afternoon Ms. Weasley and Mr. Potter. Do you have some time to talk to me this afternoon? I have some information you might find interesting."

Both of the students had forgotten about his promised visit. "Certainly sir. Is this about the, uh, research project you mentioned to us?"

"Yes it is. I don't want to disturb Poppy, do you have someplace we could talk?"

Harry very much didn't want to discuss this in front of Madam Pomfrey, no matter how much he trusted her and almost liked her. "Yes sir. One moment if you don't mind. Dobby! I need your help."

The house-elf popped in, again Harry wondered why he had that link. "Dobby, could you please bring tea and whatever light snack is easiest for you to my training room?" Dobby agreed and popped back out. Madam Pomfrey looked shocked that a student could summon a Hogwarts house-elf. "This way sir." They led the old healer to their destination.

"It's sort of nice to be back here. It brings back lots of happy memories. I've tried to forget all the bad ones," Davies joked with them.

They laughed with him. "What house were you in, sir?" Ginny asked, figuring that wasn't too impolite.

"I was in Ravenclaw. Much has not changed, yet it has is small ways." He described some of the changes, which they found interesting. Arriving at the training room, Harry opened the door for the other two and turned up the torches. The couch was now a permanent fixture for the students to use after a Pensieve lesson, so Harry and Ginny took that and let the healer have one of the overstuffed chairs. A tea set and a plate of butter biscuits were waiting for them; Davies served.

"Now that we're more comfortable, how are you two doing?"

Harry answered for them both. "Very good, at least health-wise. School keeps us extremely busy though."

"Good and unfortunate I suspect?" They both smiled as an acknowledgement. "If I can be a bit forward, may I see your hand Ms. Weasley." She held out her right hand; he looked but didn't touch it. Her Knut sized scar was as smooth as the original skin; it was now only a shade or two darker so it was barely visible to the healer's eye. "Mr. Potter, I know yours is harder to get to, but may I see it too?" Harry lifted his shirt high enough to make the old wound visible; again, the healer saw only a scar several inches in diameter that was slightly discolored. "I don't see the handprint anymore. Do you still see it?"

"Yes sir," they both answered. Harry looked down, he still saw the plainly pink circle with a darker red spot to match Ginny's wound. He could also still see a very faint silvery handprint. To Harry, Ginny's hand had a smaller pink spot in a larger darker pink spot that matched his wound. Harry dropped his shirt back down.

"Very interesting. Have you had any unusual developments since I last saw you?" Davies inquired.

As soon as they'd seen the healer in the hospital wing, they'd both known this question was going to come. Neither of them knew what to say and looked at the other. The pause drew out long enough to become unusual, but they could each feel reluctance from the other so neither answered.

"I'll take that for a yes," Davies surprised them. They had almost lost themselves in one another and had momentarily forgotten about him. "Actually, I'm not surprised that you don't want to answer me." That got him surprised looks which caused him to smile. "Let me try to explain."

"I found the article I'd mentioned to you after about a week of searching. Using that to remind me what sort of cases I should search for, I began culling through the medical archives, with some very discrete help. What it comes down to is there have been only six recorded cases like yours in the last thousand years; the last one ending about ninety years ago. The last four more modern cases mention having a wound that wouldn't heal unless the partner healed it for them."

"The literature," he continued his monolog, "calls what you have a life bond. There are other names for it like _love bond_, what you call it doesn't matter. What has happened is you've created a magical bond, or connection, between the two of you, though no one seems to know how they are created. Basically, the two of you are almost like one, at least from a life standpoint and maybe a soul standpoint too, and I say that very loosely because no one can explain the bond properly. Some people like to bandy the term _soul mates_ around when they've found someone they consider to be ultimately compatible. In a sense, for you two, you've created your own soul mate." The two of them looked at each other with a new understanding. Then because it seemed the right then to do, they reached out slightly and held hands. The healer smiled at the tender gesture before finishing. "Personally, I wouldn't describe you as soul mates, but then we really don't have a term for what you two are because this condition is so rare." The healer paused for a moment as if mentally reviewing a list.

"There are a few other things I can tell you about this bond, such as this will last for life, or so the six cases indicate - hence the name _life bond_. They also indicate that when one of you dies, the other will follow soon thereafter; and the longer the bond exists the shorter the time difference between the two passing on. I'm sorry to tell you that part, but it is recorded fact. Beyond that, not much is known. Reading the cases does seem to indicate there are other aspects to the bond, but nothing specific is recorded; and it is quite possible that the attributes for the bond are different for every couple. Again, no one knows. The bonded couples tend not to reveal anything, so you can see why I wasn't surprised you said nothing."

"I don't know what to say to all that," Harry finally said.

"Me either," Ginny agreed.

The old man continued to smile. They were such a lovely young couple. And love was certainly there. He wondered if it was only because of the bond, or if it had started before and the bond had deepened it. Then something clicked for him and he was almost sure it was important, but he knew of no way to prove it. He knew some bonding rituals that involved the exchanging of blood, they were normally Dark Magic though. These two had exchanged blood too, her wound and his wound together, blood intermingled. A White Magic equivalent he wondered? That had to be at least part of the equation. He decided he liked that theory, he wondered what else was missing from the theory.

"I'd like to talk to you both some more if you ever decide to tell me anything. As it is, about all I can do is document that a seventh case now exists."

"NO!" Harry was emphatic in his denial. Ginny was shocked at his intensity both verbally and emotionally through their bond, though she generally agreed.

Healer Davies was also shocked. "May I ask why not? I'm quite willing to not put your names on it and refer to you as a sixteen year old male and a fifteen year old female. Surely that anonymity would be good enough."

"I'm sorry, Healer Davies. I can not allow you to publish it, or at least not anytime soon."

"Again, why not? What can it hurt?"

"That's the problem, Healer, I don't know what can be done with it. But if it is connected back to us, it could kill us - literally. We are in a war, and we have already been attacked. I can't allow anything that could make the situation any worse than it already is. Surely you understand that with all the wars you've seen." Harry was trying hard to make a good case. Ginny understood his reasoning all too well now that he'd explained it. Dying with the other sounded romantic in a book; but she didn't want to have to experience it anytime soon, or subject Harry to it.

"Hmm, yes, I can see your point. Perhaps some day, Mr. Potter?"

"Perhaps, and anonymously if so. Given enough time, would anyone connect it with us if it's written as a new discovery and if our ages didn't match the report?" Harry was thinking out loud.

"That seems safe to me. I'm getting what I would call old, but even so, I should have another thirty to forty years barring accidents. Do you think it could be published in that timeframe?"

Harry looked to Ginny. "Yes," she said, "I think that would be acceptable, say ten years after the war is over. And Healer Davies? Thank you for coming to tell us. We obviously know the link exists, but we weren't sure what it was. It was nice of you to share even that limited information."

Harry also thanked the man as they walked him back to the hospital wing to Floo home; though just before he left, Harry confirmed with the healer that no one else knew of this, and that it would stay that way until their permission was given.

* * *

Harry and Ginny were up late again the next night finishing homework. It was late enough even Hermione had gone to bed. They were sitting on the couch holding hands and quietly talking about what Healer Davies had told them the day before. The fire was almost out and Ginny wanted a little more, so she waved her wand at it and muttered "_Incendio_". But the fire didn't just increase a little like she expected, it became a roaring blaze that threatened to burn down the tower if not put out quickly. Both them panicked and jumped up but individually remembered to do an extinguishing spell. The two spells lowered the flames, but not nearly enough. They had to do it three more times each before it was the small romantic fire Ginny had originally intended.

With a little bit of sweat from the stress and the heat, they all but collapsed back down on the couch and leaned on one another. Harry started a quiet laugh that made Ginny look at him like he'd lost it. "This is great Ginny. First I'm exploding bottles of Butterbeer and now you're burning down the tower." Ginny laughed too, then stopped and looked hard at him. "What's that look for?" he asked.

She was still thinking it through, but it was the only explanation that made sense. "Harry I need to do a simple spell that won't hurt anyone. Got a feather I can levitate?"

"No, but here's a couch pillow, you can levitate that." He handed her the one that was beside him.

Looking at the ceiling, she tossed it to a place on the floor that wasn't under the main chandelier. Then standing up, she levitated it and let it drop. Normal. "Harry come here." He walked over to her. "No, stand on my left side." He did and she grabbed his hand and felt the tingle. With a deep breath, she did the same levitation spell again and got her feather, plus hundreds more of them. The pillow had shot up so fast it looked like it had exploded when it flew to the ceiling, feathers were raining down on them.

"That was interesting," Harry was in awe. As the last of the feathers settled, he did a _Reparo_ on the pillow and watched it all fly back together.

"You know what this means Harry?" She was excited. Harry shook his head because it made no sense to him. "We can share power, naturally."

"How do you know about that?"

"Tom Riddle knowledge," she sighed. "It can be done unnaturally, but it's considered a Dark Magic."

"Wow!" was all Harry could say to that.

* * *

It so happened the next day was Harry and Ginny's one independent study class they shared every week. They walked to the training room holding hands, Harry's left, leaving his wand hand free. In the vein of Moody's "constant vigilance" motto, at random times Tonks would shout "Ready" and give them about one second to grab their wand before she started firing. She did that today as they entered.

At her shout, Ginny started to pull her hand out of Harry's but he held on tightly preventing it as he pulled out his wand. He barely got a standard shield up before Tonks' spell hit it and clanged, the shield stayed up and looked strong. That surprised Tonks as it should have taken the shield down. She was more surprised when Harry's _Expelliarmus_ hit her shield so hard it took it down and knocked her backward five feet so she fell on her back and let her wand go in surprise. She was very glad for the matting. Ginny deftly caught Tonks' wand as it sailed to them.

Sitting up, Tonks looked at the couple in amazement. "Damn Harry! What did you just do?"

Harry extinguished his shield and told her with a smirk, "We were maintaining constant vigilance, Tonks." Ginny joined him in laughing at her look.

"No really, how did you do that?"

"Uh..." Now Harry fully realized they'd shown something tangible from their bond that couldn't be ignored. "Will you excuse us a sec so we can discuss how to answer that?" Harry pulled Ginny to the other side of the room leaving an incredulous Tonks standing over by the door.

To be safe, Harry also cast an _Imperturbable_ charm in a bubble around them for complete privacy while they discussed this. "I'm sorry Ginny, I really goofed this time."

"It's all right Harry. I doubt we could have hid this forever anyway."

"You're probably right, but I still feel like I've betrayed you because I let one of our secret powers out."

That got Ginny to thinking. _Secret power. A power he knows not._ A slow but big smile filled her face. "Harry, do you realize what you just said?"

"Yes, I betrayed you."

"No, you prat." She good naturally whacked him on the arm. She didn't see Tonks have a small gaff behind her at what appeared to be a lover's quarrel. "You said _secret power_, as in _a power he knows not_. And where did we get this power? From our bond, which Healer Davies also called a..."

"Love bond," Harry finished for her as comprehension hit him. "You think this is it?"

"I don't know Harry, but it does seem to fit if Dumbledore is correct and the power comes from love." Harry looked over and saw Tonks starting to look impatient. "OK, we've got to get back, but we only admit this ability of our bond, right?"

"Right, though I think we need to call it our awareness of each other, not a bond," Ginny suggested.

"But won't they realize there's a bond when we power share as you called it?"

"Maybe, but let's play dumb and see how it goes. As you told Healer Davies, we do need to guard our secrets, and our bond is intimate enough I don't want to share, even if we swore Tonks to secrecy." Harry nodded as he took the area of silence down.

Tonks was looking a bit put out, and Harry guessed he couldn't blame her. "Sorry Tonks, it's not everyday we have something like this happen to us."

"Fine, I'll forgive you for making me wait if you'll let me in on the secret."

"It's sort of hard to explain, but we noticed that if we hold hands while one of us is casting a spell, we are able to cast it more powerfully." Harry thought that got the point across.

"Excuse me?" the older witch was still trying to figure this out.

"Maybe we should explain what happened last night," Ginny suggested. Harry shrugged, so Ginny explained about the fire and the pillow.

"You found this out last night?"

"Actually Tonks, the first example happened Saturday night." Harry told her about the Butterbeer.

Tonks was still working through this in her head and it didn't make sense. "Maybe another demonstration, Tonks?" Ginny asked. She saw the couch had two pillows. Pointing at one she said _Accio Pillow_, and the pillow flew across the room and Ginny easily caught it. "Now watch this. Oh Harry, would you be a dear and stand in front of me?" Harry rolled his eyes as he figured out what she was going to do. She stood behind and only slightly to the side of him. Reaching up and putting her hand on his neck so she could feel the power, or so she assumed that's what the tingle was, she again spoke _Accio Pillow_. This time, the pillow came so fast that when it hit Harry in the chest, it knocked him back a step and that was with Ginny pushing forward to help support him.

"Wow! So you just have to touch him?"

"Yes."

"Does it work through clothes or must it be skin to skin contact."

"Our experiments showed it does seem to have to be skin contact." Harry stood there holding the pillow letting Ginny handle it all, until Tonks' wanted to experiment some more.

Testing their shield, Tonks found it to be bigger and stronger. Testing on some conjured bricks with a bludgeoning spell caused them to be pulverized instead of just broken. It all really amounted to the fact that their spells were much more powerful when he and Ginny were physically touching.

By the end of the session, they all had a good idea on how useful this could be in a fight. The only drawback was that since both of them were right handed, one of them would have to learn how to do spell work with their left hand. She told both of them to learn as you never knew how things were going to work out.

They left with her giggling about how much fun next week's class was going to be. They had no idea what she was talking about as their mentor shooed them out for their next class.

No matter what Harry tried later in the week, Tonks would not tell him what she was planning, but she mercilessly worked him on using his wand with his left hand. He surprised himself by learning that fairly quickly, at least he had learned to do the basic spells that accounted for eighty percent of all spells done. The more complex spells still eluded his left hand.

When their next training session together came, Tonks had them test their new form of fighting. Even with her expecting it, it took Harry and Ginny less than half a minute to beat her. Trying again separately without touching, it took them almost two minutes to beat her. Tonks was ecstatic at their new form. Generally, Harry went on the offensive while Ginny maintained the shield, and did other defensive spells. To make it worse for Tonks, when Ginny wasn't pressed for defensive work, she also attacked.

Half way through their two-hour class, when they were taking a breather to discuss tactics, Professor Dumbledore came to visit their training session. Harry thought he now understood the source of Tonks' glee from last time. Looking to Ginny, she shrugged and whispered, "So what if he's the greatest wizard of the age, we're the greatest wizarding couple of the age." It was all Harry could do not to laugh; he loved her for moments like this.

"Headmaster, I'm glad you could join us. I'd like you to help me with a pop quiz for this class." Tonks' humor rarely stopped.

"Certainly Miss Tonks, what can I do for you?" He was pleasant as usual.

"I'd like you to duel my pupils." Tonks took a seat on the side and conjured a shield in front of her to block any stray spells that might come her way. "And Professor Dumbledore, do not go easy on them. This needs to be a real test."

"As you wish. If I may ask before we start, what is the blue area? It looks similar to a dueling platform."

"That's the exercise area. You want to try to stay in that area. It's made of mats that have a cushioning charm. When you walk on it, it should feel fairly solid with a small bit of spring, but it's like falling onto a bed when you fall down," the Auror explained. "We have these at Auror School."

"How thoughtful of you. Hopefully I won't need it though," the Headmaster said as he stepped onto the mat. Harry and Ginny were across from him standing and holding hands. "Are we to start this like a walk in the park with a sudden attack?" he asked in an amused voice.

"Think if of however you want, Headmaster," Tonks told him. "Three-Two-One-Begin!"

Harry immediately sent a stunner at the old man while Ginny pulled up a reflective shield. It was a good thing as Dumbledore had also sent a stunner which was bounced back to him. Dumbledore dodged the first stunner, then had to dodge the reflected one, but couldn't get out of the way of the second one Harry had sent at him. Expecting it to be repelled by his shield, he was taken aback by it completely taking his shield down and then being thrown backward by an _Expelliarmus_ from Ginny. As he hit the mat nearly seven feet behind where he had been standing, he appreciated the mat much more than he had during the discussion.

Sitting up, Dumbledore saw a sweetly smiling Ginny holding his wand and a triumphant looking Harry. A roar of laughter was coming from Tonks. When she finally caught her breath, she told him, "Congratulations Headmaster! I think you lasted about five seconds longer than I did the first time."

Dumbledore was almost tempted to stay sitting down for the discussion that was sure to follow, but it wasn't dignified. Standing up, he walked over to the chair and rested in it. The students came over too and sat on the couch. Ginny handed his wand back to him. "Thank you, Ginny. Now that you've surprised me, would someone be so kind as to offer an explanation?"

Tonks was still giddy from the demonstration fight, but explained to him about Harry and Ginny's ability. She also explained about their new fighting style and how they complemented one another, though they were still working on adding new spells made for this kind of fighting.

Dumbledore looked at the students. "So your power is increased when you're touching?" He sounded amazed like Tonks had been the first time. They nodded. "You first noticed this last weekend?" They again nodded. "Hmm, I wonder when it first started ..." The two youngsters kept quiet trying to avoid giving away anything private. While Harry didn't feel any mental probing, he also considered that he needed to teach Ginny Occlumency for situations just like this.

The Headmaster finally broke the silence. "The only thing unusual I can think of recently was the attack on Platform 9 ¾. Didn't you say you were hit with an unusual spell Harry?"

"That's what I was told, but I have trouble understanding how that could give me a power like this."

"Yes, it would be most unusual, but perhaps it triggered some latent ability. Have you had any other unusual abilities, particularly in connection with the other? Like an extra awareness?"

Harry couldn't keep the surprise off his face; he'd have to admit something now. "I suppose you can say that."

"In what way Harry?" Both the Headmaster and Tonks were paying close attention.

"It's hard to describe sir. Awareness is probably the right word. I know this is Ginny, you couldn't fool me with a room full of girls taking Polyjuice potion. There's something about her that is right to me." Harry figured that was enough to explain it and yet not give away too much, though one always had to be careful with Dumbledore because he knew so much.

"Is it the same for you, Ginny?"

"Yes sir; and Harry's right, it is hard to describe. He is more real than he was before; sorta like an oil painting when he used to be a sketch only in ink."

"Sir, could this be the power that he knows not?" Harry wanted to know.

"I don't know Harry, but my guess is probably. I would like to know more about this though, because the only thing close to it that I'm aware of lies firmly in the realm of Dark Magic, something neither of you would know anything about or do the ritual even if you did learn of it. I shall have to think on this." Dumbledore paused as if ordering his thoughts, then he asked suddenly. "Does anyone else know about this?"

"No, only the four of us. I haven't even told Ron or Hermione. Have you, Ginny?" She said no one else either.

"I was about to ask Andrew to join us so it's two on two, and perhaps so I'll have a chance of winning from time to time," Tonks interjected.

"That's a good idea, and I trust him." Seeing a thoughtful look on Harry's face, Dumbledore thought back to some things Tonks had told him about Harry and trust. "Harry, Ginny, are you willing to let Professor Cobb know about this? I believe he can be very helpful to your training."

The two students looked at each other with raised eyebrows and shrugs to make it look good, but they were measuring each other's feeling on it. Finally Harry looked back at the Headmaster and said, "He can be told." More importantly, this restored yet a little more faith in the Headmaster for Harry, since he was willing to ask if Harry trusted someone.

"Good, let's keep it to just the five of us then," the Headmaster agreed. "Well, now that I know what I'm up against." A slight twinkle came back to his eyes, "how about we have another go at it?"

Harry knew they were in for it now, but agreed anyway. Ginny, however, seemed anxious to show him it wasn't a fluke. It took over two minutes this time because of some spells Harry had never seen before that caused both of them to go on defense occasionally. Near the end, their shield went down and Harry saw Ginny wasn't going to get a new one up in time, so he erected one. Ginny realized what was happening and she automatically took the offensive. That switch in tasks distracted the Headmaster just enough that Harry was able to get in a stunner that partially hit and upset Dumbledore's rhythm such that Ginny hit him full on with an _Expelliarmus_ to knock him back and down onto the cushioned floor - again.

As the Headmaster slowly got up, Harry was amazed to see an incredulous look on Dumbledore's face and beads of sweat on his forehead. "I didn't think you could do it when I was ready for it, but I am happier to see you fighting at this level than I am distraught about my loss. The amount of power in your spells is very difficult to defend against." It was a smiling though bruised Headmaster who left.

At the end of their session as they were about to go to their next class, Tonks dropped a bomb on them. "Oh, I forgot to tell you that Professor Dumbledore is going to announce a Hogsmeade trip this Saturday, but he would strongly prefer you two to stay at the castle instead of going."

They started to protest to express their disappointment, but Tonks stopped them. "Hey, I understand but it's not all bad. As a consolation, you'll be allowed to have the Room of Requirement for the whole day; and for their own safety, it would be a good idea to have Ron and Hermione join you too. You can do anything to the room you want: make a miniature Hogsmeade, a forest for a hike, a miniature Quidditch field, a party room and invite others to stay behind too, or whatever else your imaginations can come up with." Harry was starting to think maybe this wasn't so bad; Ginny didn't seem so upset either.

"However," Tonks continued, "I must also point out there will be an _Amorous Monitor_ in the room, which will zap you if go beyond snogging," she said with a big smile. The kids smiled back at her, but it was a nervous one.

Ginny shrugged so Harry told Tonks, "We'll think about it as well as talk to Ron and Hermione."

"All right, tell me at tomorrow's practice session, Harry," she said as she turned to leave. When she got to the door, she looked back at them. "By the way, since you two beat the pants off Dumbledore twice, you can stay here and use the remaining fifteen minutes of the class anyway you wish. But don't think of skiving off your next class, I'll be back later to make sure you left. Ta-ta!" she called as she walked out. Harry looked at the couch and back at Ginny. She grinned, grabbed his hand, and pulled him over to it. Their heads came together for the rest of the time until the bell rang to end the period.

* * *

.


	14. Outings

Version: 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

_{A/N 2006: There will be a slight change to the overall structure of the story. I had planned on a sequel, but in thinking about it, I realized that it won't make much sense to read it if you haven't read this story first; and the sequel was only 11 chapters, so I decided to add the sequel onto the end and redo what was the transition chapters, there should be 34 chapters total for this story._

_For those who don't know, sparkling juice is a non-alcholic bubbly drink; my kids love it on New Year's eve._

_Also, my beta and I have a slight disagreement on whether the Room of Requirement can change when someone is inside. It seems clear to me from book 5 that the Room can put new things inside when asked (e.g. a whistle for Harry), so I think that changing itself is merely a small jump from there. Considering the level of magic needed for the Room to work in general, I don't see this to be a problem. Do note that the person has to ask the Room for the change, so a sudden stray thought about Voldemort would not cause an artificial clone of the Dark Lord to appear. Also, I sort of wrote the RoR such that it acts something like Star Trek's Holodeck. Yes, I know that isn't according to the books, so I tried not to stretch that too far.}_

**Chapter 14: Outings**

At first, Ron and Hermione weren't sure they wanted to stay behind. Sure it could be fun, but they wanted to go into town. They also wanted some private time to themselves. Ginny pointed out they could choose whichever they wanted, but the room could make barriers to give separation. The two boys got together by themselves and when they were done, it was decided it would be a foursome. Ginny was fine with it, but Hermione wasn't sure; still, she decided it wasn't worth fighting about.

So Saturday morning when everyone else was going off to Hogsmeade, the four of them headed to the Room of Requirement. Ron carried a duffle bag of stuff and a change of clothes for himself and Harry, while Harry carried a large picnic basket of food, which Dobby had given him. The girls were carrying a small bag each as they were told to bring swimsuits along with a nicer change of clothes.

In the hall outside the room, Ron did the honors of thinking about his need and opened the door. When they walked in, the others saw that it looked like a miniature Quidditch pitch in a very large room. Hermione looked at the boys suspiciously, but the boys didn't take the bait and silently pulled out only two brooms from their bag. Harry gallantly offered Ginny a ride on his Firebolt, which she quickly accepted. Sitting close to him with her arms tightly around his waist they went whizzing around the very tall room both laughing in fun. Not to be outdone, Ron offered Hermione a ride on his Cleansweep. Seeing what he was up to she blushingly accepted and they also flew around in fun, but not nearly as crazily as the other couple. It seemed to Hermione that Harry was trying to recreate a Muggle roller coaster on his broom; however much Ginny seemed to enjoy it, she was glad Ron wasn't doing that too.

When they'd had enough flying, they put the brooms back into the carry bag. Now Harry did the honors for the next scene as he paused and appeared to be lost in thought as he asked the room to transform. The others saw the room change to an over-crowded greenhouse setting, complete with the occasional birdcall in the background and a large pool to the side with rocks mounded on the side and a waterfall coming down over them. Ginny loved swimming and thought this looked great. Hermione began to change her mind about the day and decided that if the guys had put this much thought into it, it might turn out rather nice after all.

Grabbing the lunch basket Harry walked towards the pool. Ron pulled a couple of blankets out of their bag and followed him. Each couple spread out their own blanket. They were about thirty feet apart; close enough to tell the other something, but far enough apart so that soft conversation would not be heard. Dividing up the lunch basket, they tucked in.

Finishing the main part of lunch and moving to dessert, Harry and Ginny laid on their sides facing each other with their fruit cups between them. Then like a couple of two year olds they used their fingers to eat the fruit pieces, except instead of feeding themselves, they fed the other person. Ginny thought that it was great fun, especially when she "accidentally" missed Harry's mouth, multiple times. Harry didn't care, he was so happy to be spending an entire day with his girlfriend and not having schoolwork intrude for once.

Harry and Ginny were having so much fun with dessert, that they were not finished when Ron yelled, "Hey, time to swim."

Hermione looked at Ron and asked, "Where are we going to change?" and received a dumb look from him indicating that he hadn't thought of that. So she closed her eyes for a second to form a mental picture as she asked the Room for a modification. Suddenly, there were two small wooden bathhouses to change in. Ron and Hermione went first. To the boys' disappointment, both girls wore modest one-piece suits.

The four played in the water for a while, and Ginny noticed Harry didn't seem to be swimming that much. She came up to him and in the guise of a hug, she whispered in his ear. "Harry, didn't you get a chance to learn to swim when you were little?" It was obvious Hermione knew how to swim, and she knew Ron knew how too as they'd both learned in the river near their home. He seemed embarrassed and looked away, so she told him gently, "Come over here to the other side away from them. I'll show you and you'll be swimming in a few minutes."

Harry didn't know what to do; he'd never really had the chance as a child. The Dursleys had never taken him to a pool. Still, he'd be spending time with Ginny, so he waded over with her. The water in the pool wasn't over their heads anywhere, and was shallow at most of the edges.

Ginny had him floating in no time, which Harry enjoyed as she held him up in the water at first. Then she showed him how to stroke his arms, kick, and when to breathe. Though not overly confident at first, he was soon swimming too. That had been one of the most enjoyable lessons he'd ever had, he thought. Of course, none of the teachers at the school were beautiful fifteen-year-old girls in a swimsuit either.

After awhile, Harry and Ginny got tired from swimming, so they crawled out and back onto the blanket to rest and talk some more. Both were in a silly mood so they starting playing a game with their bond where the other had to guess what they were feeling, but they couldn't use a feeling that had already been used. A correct answer got a kiss from the other. Eventually, the questions and answers went away and it turned into a time for snogging.

During a breather, Harry noticed that the other couple had also left the water, apparently off on a walk through the potted plant forest. Harry was about to return to playing with Ginny's hair and kiss her ear some more when they heard a yelp of "Ow!" in a male voice and a buzz from up above. Looking at each other, Harry and Ginny burst out laughing at what had to be the Amorous Monitor zapping Ron.

A few minutes later, a peeved Ron and a slightly embarrassed looking Hermione came back to the pool area. Ron saw his best friend and sister lying very close together. Though not touching, it wasn't hard to imagine what they'd been doing with their heads so close together, but he tried very hard not to think about it, especially since he's just been doing the same thing with Hermione. "Are you two hungry? I'm starved."

Ginny looked at her watch and noticed it was almost six. "Harry, why don't you and Ron go first," Ginny suggested. "Hermione and I will probably take a little longer." She looked up at Hermione and saw an agreeing nod. The boys looked at each with a 'whatever' look and grabbed their nicer clothes and went to change.

While the boys were inside, Ginny turned to Hermione. "So, what did Ron do that got him into trouble?"

Hermione blushed but talked very happily and quickly. "Oh Ginny, he just asked me out as his girlfriend. Can you believe it?"

"I'm so happy for you!" Ginny squealed as they hugged. "Took him long enough though."

"Yes, but he's been making good progress. I think Harry's been working on him a lot; and I've been spending a lot of time with him on his Potions class; plus we've been doing a quite a bit of research together. So we've had quite a bit of time to get to know one another better. You know what the funny part is? I think he thought he didn't have anything to offer to the relationship."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "He's just a prat sometimes. So what happened in the forest."

"Oh," Hermione had hoped her friend had forgotten about that. "We were kissing and, well, his hand was on my back and it fell a bit too low." She was quite red and wasn't looking at her friend's face.

Ginny was straining to hold her laughter in. Recovering, she asked, "Purposefully or accidentally?"

Hermione finally looked up, "I don't know, it wasn't there long enough to find out."

Now Ginny lost it. Since she was only sitting on the blanket, she let herself fall over onto her back and let the laugh come. Hermione good naturally whacked her shoulder, but Ginny didn't care. The imagined scene was just too delicious.

The boys came out to see Ginny laying down and laughing. Harry and Ron just looked at each other before Ron told the girls it was their turn. Hermione looked at Ron and told him "Nice" before she went in. Ginny looked at Harry in the nicer clothes Tonks had bought him plus his dragon hide boots. As she passed him, she stood on her tip-toes to give him a quick peck on the cheek and whispered, "You clean up very nicely, Potter." He watched her go into the bathhouse wondering what was up.

With the girls gone, the boys started on the task of changing the room to something more suitable. Ron looked at Harry, "My turn?"

"Be my guest ..."

Ron looked lost in thought as he asked the room to change again, and it transformed into a nice restaurant setting with fancy table clothes and chairs. The waterfall stayed as a fountain, but the pool shrunk to become just large enough to contain the splashing water. Of course, the bathhouses stayed.

Harry liked it, though he thought it was missing a few things, so he asked for them. A moment later there was soft music and his table had a tall slender vase with a white rose in mid-bloom. "Nice touch," Ron complimented him, "by why not a red rose?" A red rose appeared on Ron's table.

"Didn't want it to clash with her hair," Harry pointed out. Ron grinned at him. Since it was time for dinner, Harry called his secret food provider. "Dobby, I need you." The house-elf appeared. "Dobby, we'll take dinner as soon as you're ready."

"Yes Harry Sir! I and Winky will bring it in a few minutes." Dobby popped back out.

Though Harry was happy with it all, Ron appeared to be looking really happy. "So Ron, what happened to you? I heard a zap."

Ron's face almost instantly became the shade of his hair. "It was an accident, I swear. I'd just asked Hermione to go out with me, and when I went to put my hand around her I accidentally brushed her bum. Damn it hurt when that bloody Monitor zapped my hand!"

Now Harry knew why Ginny had been laughing so hard; he was trying not to and failing as well. "At least you finally asked her, Ron," Harry got out between gaffs.

"Yeah..." Ron seemed lost in the happy memory, before he sobered up. "So you can lay off all the hints now, Potter."

Harry started laughing again. "Sorry Ron, but you were being so thick about it, and it was killing Hermione, and it was so obvious you liked her."

Ron's retort was cut off by two house-elves popping in with trays of food. They put it all on the two tables along with two bottles. Harry looked at Dobby with amazement. "Uh, thanks for the thought Dobby, but I didn't order any wine."

"Oh no, Harry Potter, this is not wine but a sparkling juice. I thought it would be good for toasting your Wheezy." Dobby seemed to be beside himself with this idea.

"My error, thank you Dobby; I'm sure we'll enjoy it." Both elves bowed low and popped out.

"This is so awesome," Ron commented. "I could get used to this!"

Harry started to laugh, but it froze in his throat as Ginny came out of the bathhouse. She was gorgeous, or so every brain cell in his head thought. All he could do was stare. She purposefully came over to him slowly, he thought, with an exaggerated sway in her very form fitting dress. He tried to tune into her feelings, but his were running so ragged he couldn't find hers. She seemed to glide over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss. "Thank you, Harry," she whispered, "you make me feel like it was all worth it." Harry hadn't said a word, but he knew what he'd been feeling and assumed that was the source of her reaction.

Ron was staring at his little sister, who looked like something out of Teen-Witch Weekly. He was so caught up in her and her kissing of his friend, he missed Hermione come out until she was next to him. "They are a cute couple," Ron did jump a little as he turned to her, "but shouldn't you pay at least a little attention to me?"

"Wow Hermione, you look _good!_" She gave him a very endearing smile and a quick peck on the cheek. They saw Harry seating Ginny at their table a short distance away and followed their example.

The girls found Dobby had prepared a dinner of lamb and potatoes, with a salad and bread. Cheesecake was also waiting on the side. The soft music that was playing in the background added to the romantic mood.

Harry poured the sparkling juice into two tall fluted glasses; he also didn't bother to correct Ginny's mistaken impression that it was champagne either when she raised an eyebrow at him. "To the most beautiful woman I know." He raised his glass to her.

"And to the most handsome man I know," she replied raising her glass. After her sip, she gave him a devilish look. "I should have known."

He gave her a soft laugh. "I thought it was real bubbly too until Dobby corrected me. By the way, while I know I'm not that good with women's clothes and stuff, that looks a lot like Hermione's dress from the Yule Ball."

She finished chewing her bite before answering. "That's because it is. She gave it to me." Harry looked surprised. "It's not that big a deal. She said she's not fourteen anymore and it didn't quite fit like it used to. Of course, I'm not sure how much longer it will fit me either, though I am slightly smaller than she is."

"I like the way it fits you, Ginny."

Soft laughter came from her. "Thank you, Harry. You look quite the hunk yourself in those trousers and nice shirt." It was Harry's turn to blush. "Harry, I want to thank you for today. A part of me feels guilty for taking so much time off from studying, but I so needed something like this - especially with you." Harry's blush deepened.

"Thank you, Ginny; I've enjoyed the time with you too." They ate their dessert mostly in easy silence staring at each other and enjoying the feeling of love coming from the other.

Ginny started humming along with the music and before long got an impish look on her face. "Mr. Potter, you need to come with me." Harry watched her look to the side away from Ron and Hermione who were finishing dinner too. As he followed her gaze, he gulped when he saw a wooden dance floor that hadn't been there before. "Ah, exactly what I asked for," she commented as she got up and stood next to his chair. Harry just sat there looking up at her, so she reached down and grabbed his hand and pulled him up and out to the dance floor.

Harry started to argue with her. "Ginny, I'm no good at dancing, I..."

"Sssh," she told him and then gave him a gentle kiss to permanently stop his protests. "I'll happily teach you this too." As she started to do so, Harry heard Ron laughing.

Turning to look over, he saw Ron staring at him and pointing while he laughed. Harry knew he was turning red and wanted to run away, but then he saw another dance floor appear on the other side of Ron's table. Hermione in a clear firm tone said, "Ron, come, you need to learn too." That quickly shut Ron up and a look of horror came over Ron's face. Now it was Harry's turn to laugh at his best friend.

Suddenly, a tall and many sectioned dressing screen appeared between the two dance floors. Ginny giggled. "There, that should prevent distractions. Now Harry, put your hand back on my waist and follow my lead. I'll take it slow at first, then speed up to normal tempo once you've got the hang of it."

Harry didn't know how long it had taken, but he did get to the point where he wasn't stepping on her toes anymore and was finding dancing to be fun; of course being in Ginny's arms really helped. He felt not only his contentment and relaxed feelings, but hers too. As they changed to a slower song, Harry's right hand started to caress Ginny's back. He didn't think about it as it strayed lower and lower, he let his hand take care of itself. He suddenly remembered what happened to Ron and jerked it back up to between her shoulder blades.

She looked at him in surprise, then finally figured it out and giggled at him. "Nice save there, Potter".

He loved her so, and to show her, he pulled her the small distance to him and kissed her, then they changed to a tight hug. Somewhere in his mind, a horrible thought snuck in. Ginny sensed his changed feelings. Pulling back she asked in a very concerned voice. "What's wrong Harry?"

"I just realized what a horrible boyfriend I've been."

"Excuse me? You have nothing to be sorry for. I can't imagine what else you could do to make it better for me," then with a note of fun in her voice, "other than to do all my homework so I have more time to spend with you." That made Harry smile a little, but she could still feel something was amiss in him.

"Yes I have. Ginny think about it. I know you can tell how I feel about you, but have I really ever told you? I've never said the magic words _I love you_. What kind of boyfriend doesn't tell his girlfriend that except for a bad one."

Ginny was shocked to hear him say that as he really was all she could want. On the other hand, he was correct. He had never said it, except... "Yes you have Harry, it was only once but you have." Harry looked confused as he couldn't remember it. Tears started forming in Ginny's eyes. "It was when we were on Platform 9 ¾, at the end of the battle." She wasn't going to let herself cry, but she couldn't stop the tears from welling up anyway. "The last thing you said to me was _'I love you too, I always will'_." The dancing was forgotten; they held each other as they relived that heart-rending moment.

"I had forgotten," he finally admitted when he could speak again, "but I meant it, Ginny, from the bottom of my heart. I know you've felt it from me, but I want you to really know that I do love you. I'd do anything I had to for you, Ginny."

"I love you too, Harry." They kissed again.

Harry broke the kiss when he felt the room changing around him. Looking up, they saw it becoming a normal room with the extra disappearing. The dressing screen finally disappeared revealing Ron and Hermione also in an embrace. Then to his surprise, Harry heard the door to the room open and Professor Dumbledore in his midnight blue robes with silver stars and moons walked in. "Ah, a romantic evening is always such a joy to experience; but alas, I'm afraid that it is past ten o'clock and I must walk you back to your tower."

The students retrieved their bags and Dumbledore escorted them back. Along the way they passed Filch to whom Dumbledore gave a causal "Good evening". Upset at not being able to do anything to the students as Dumbledore was there, the caretaker only grunted an acknowledgement.

Walking back into the common room dressed as they were caused a bit of a stir among the few handfuls of older students who were still up and gathered there. Colin Creevey also took a few quick pictures. They joined the other students at the seats near the fireplace and had to explain they'd been on their own date since they hadn't be allowed to go to Hogsmeade. When asked about the day, the others said nothing bad had happened in town, but the two couples decided they'd had the better deal anyway. They also hoped they could talk Tonks and Dumbledore into another day like today in place of the next Hogsmeade trip.

* * *

The following Wednesday, Harry got a surprise. Instead of Tonks, Moony showed up again for his special training. Moony had also come once last month and they'd had a good time sparring for a good portion of the lesson.

However, the last part of their time training had been quite different to the previous, as they'd sat down and just talked. Harry decided Moony was very interesting to talk to. The werewolf was a bit of a loner, and yet once they'd started talking, Harry found they'd easily slipped into a nice relationship. It was more than friendship but not like talking to a father, maybe like a favorite uncle Harry finally decided. They'd talked about his parents for most of the time; Remus had some great stories about them.

After working on some revealing charms today, they again sat down together well before the class time was over. "So Harry," his trainer for the day began, "I hear you had a late evening the other night on your special date. Did you have an enjoyable time?"

The young man coloured a bit from his embarrassment. "Err, yeah, great time."

"Good, good, that's nice to hear," Remus nodded a bit as he agreed. He appeared to be slightly nervous Harry thought. "Say Harry, did Sirius ever discuss your, ah, manly responsibilities?"

"My what?" Harry had a clue as to what he might be asking and almost started praying he was wrong.

"Your responsibilities as a man, Harry." Lupin took a big breath before continuing. "In the Wizarding world, it's not quite like it is in the Muggle world; attachments are more permanent, there's almost no divorce, so relationships are more serious. So I feel some responsibility to make sure you know about your responsibilities so there aren't any little Harrys or Ginnys before there should be."

Harry closed his eyes and mentally groaned, he wondered how he could get out of this. "Sirius did talk to me about this once." He hoped that would be it.

"Oh good," Lupin said as he brightened considerably. "So you do understand then that once that, uh, activity is started, it is very hard to stop; therefore, it's best not to start until you're married?"

"Yeah," though Harry couldn't remember if Sirius had mentioned that part or not. In reality he tried to shield himself from the pain of remembering conversations with his godfather; in fact, he didn't think about Sirius if at all possible. Thoughts of Sirius still hurt far too much to dwell there.

"Excellent, so since we're sort of talking about the future, tell me what careers you're thinking about now Harry?" Moony appeared to be as relieved to change the subject as Harry did, and Harry knew that was one conversation he wasn't going to be sharing with Ginny.

"Well, Auror is a possibility as I've got all the classes I need. Though to be truthful, I'm starting to wonder if I still really want to be chasing Death Eaters and the like, assuming I survive Voldemort. Professional Quidditch sounds like it would be really cool, if I could do that. Beyond that, I'm not really sure what else interests me." He shrugged as he ended.

"That sounds like a good topic for the rest of our time then," his mentor told him.

* * *

Saturday hosted the Ravenclaw versus Slytherin Quidditch game. Harry took Ginny on a picnic down by the lake. Though there was a cool breeze, they found a sheltered place in the sun for lunch and had a nice time together relaxing from their morning's studies. They even had an old loaf of bread that they threw out to the giant squid. It was eaten only a few seconds after it hit the water.

Walking hand in hand, they went to the stadium, not only to watch the game, but also to scout the other two teams. It was a nasty game, which Slytherin won 270-220, with most of Ravenclaw's points coming from penalty shots. A Bludger hit Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw Seeker, and though she was able to stay in the game, she couldn't fly her best. That made it easy for Malfoy to catch the Snitch.

On their way to dinner that evening, Ginny wanted to go change her jumper because it was too warm now that they were back inside the castle. Harry was going to go with her, but she told him to go on to the Great Hall with Hermione and Ron; she'd meet him there shortly. After changing, she headed for dinner and met up with the Creevey brothers in the Common Room. The three walked together discussing the game.

Outside the Great Hall the three Gryffindors were almost knocked over. As they turned the last corner none other than Draco Malfoy along with his two goons, Crabbe and Goyle, also on their way to dinner, appeared straight in front of them and bumped them. "Well, well, well, look who we have here. A Weaselette and two pretend Beaters."

"Malfoy, shut it and leave us alone," Ginny's temper flared.

Harry had just finished dishing out his food when he felt an extreme spike of anger and frustration from Ginny. Feeling inside, he sought out Ginny and felt her directionally as somewhere left of the main doors and on this same level. Guessing she wasn't too far away, he jumped up from the table walking so fast for the doors it was almost a run. Ron's question of "What's up?" was ignored. He drew his wand as he neared the doors and felt her direction changing to be almost straight left; that made her probably in the hallway right outside.

But Malfoy didn't leave them alone, he looked at Ginny for a moment with desire. "Guys, why don't you entertain these would be Beaters," he told his two goons, "I think Red wants to be alone with me." He started to move toward Ginny.

Harry came out the doors, turned, and had taken two long steps down the hallway when saw the six of them at the other end of the hallway; no one else seemed to be around. It would be considered long distance, but he thought he could do it. He saw Malfoy start to walk forward towards Ginny, so Harry cast one of his new spells from _The Sounds of Silence_ book he'd read. The spell hit Malfoy squarely in the back and he suddenly froze in his tracks.

Ginny was about to panic and try to pull out her wand as she saw Malfoy start to move towards her. Then she saw him stop and strangest look came to his face. The top half seemed to indicate horror, while the bottom half had turned into a zipper made of flesh.

Harry knew the spell had worked when he felt her rising panic turn into hilarity. He was suddenly feeling very good until he heard someone behind him. Spinning around, he all but ran into Professor Cobb, who was trying to turn the corner to come out into the hall. "Not getting into trouble are we, Mr. Potter?"

Harry put his wand away as inconspicuously as he could, though he had no doubt Cobb had seen it. "No sir, just preventing it."

Cobb looked around Harry's head and saw the three smaller Gryffindors laughing while the bigger Crabbe and Goyle helped a struggling Malfoy toward the hospital wing. "Being his usual bullying self?"

"Yes sir. After five years of it, I've decided I'm not going to take it anymore." Harry was polite, but he was extremely tired of Malfoy doing this to him and his friends, and he didn't care if he got into trouble or not.

"I understand, however, in situations like this, it's best not get caught."

"I'd like that sir, but I'm still going to stand up for myself and Ginny; no one deserves to be bullied or hurt just because they have different beliefs or are smaller."

"You are quite correct, no one does deserves that kind of treatment." His teacher looked at him for a moment as if evaluating him. Harry didn't feel any mental probes but he reinforced his shields anyway. "Hmm, ask me about soundless magic when you come see me Monday afternoon." The Professor walked off towards his office." Harry was amazed that he hadn't lost any points or been given detention. While he hadn't been caught red-handed, it was obvious he'd done something to Malfoy.

Harry would hex him again in a heartbeat if needed. In fact, he now knew spells that would line Malfoy's lips with buttons and one that would seal the bottom part of his face with skin as if he'd never had lips. While he wanted to hex the Slytherin bully just because of past wrongs, he wouldn't as long as Malfoy was civil.

The trio walked up and Ginny flung her arms around him to give him a big hug. She whispered in his ear, "I don't know how you did that, but thank you. Actually I've got a better thank you, but you'll have to wait until later for it." She kissed the back of his jaw near his ear before she let him go.

When the three of them sat down at the long table for dinner, and Harry returned to his seat, Ron again asked what was happening. But Harry didn't get to answer as Ginny enjoyed telling the story about Malfoy with a zipper on his lips. The whole Gryffindor table laughed at the tale, and though Harry never admitted doing anything, everyone knew he had.

At his next private lesson, Harry asked Professor Cobb how to do soundless magic. Cobb explained the theory then took him back to first year spells. Harry struggled; but by the end of the session, he was starting to have a smidgen of success with a simple levitation spell, some of the time anyway. That evening while Ginny was in the library, Harry went to the training room and continued working on soundless magic. By curfew, he was reasonably proficient with several first year spells soundlessly. Tomorrow evening, he'd conjure a bullfrog and practice the one spell he most wanted to do soundlessly. Cobb never mentioned soundless magic again. Harry neither asked nor told Tonks about it.

* * *

.


	15. Tests

Version: 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

**Chapter 15: Tests**

It was late again. In fact it was so late even Harry had gone to bed. Though it was Sunday night and she'd spent most of the weekend studying, Ginny felt very backlogged with homework in the last week of November, and she had four OWLs coming up in about two weeks. Then there were her normal classes, her independent study classes and trainings, and the DA on top of all that. At least Quidditch was suspended until after the holidays. Still, she knew she wasn't handling it all.

Looking at her watch, she saw it was nearly one in the morning. She should be asleep because she needed to be up again in six hours. What she wouldn't give to get those six or seven hours back every night. They seemed so wasted. If only... Yes, she thought she could do that. Going through her memory in Potions class from last year, as well as the memories from Tom Riddle, she knew the potion was fast to make and didn't require any special ingredients, only things she already had in her potions kit. Smiling at the answer, she went up to her dorm room and very quietly got her potions kit, along with last year's book, out of the bottom of her trunk.

Back downstairs in the common room, she found a spot that was hidden from the stairs behind an oversized chair. Setting up her small cauldron, she quickly prepared the ingredients and brewed them per the instructions in the book. As it finished simmering, she pulled out twelve little vials from her kit. That didn't leave her many for class; she'd have to order more via owl.

The potion had the nice light green color it should, so she bottled it. Taking one vial worth, she instantly started feeling better. Ignoring the steam that would be coming out of her ears for the next few minutes, she cleaned up and carried everything back to her table and continued working on essays.

* * *

Wednesday evening, Ginny hurried to the training room after dinner; she needed at least several minutes alone. Harry had told her he would come join her soon. She was getting so tired, she definitely had to hurry. Setting her bag down, she began rummaging for another of her little green vials. They must have fallen to the bottom and had to be there somewhere.

Harry had wolfed down dinner after Ginny had left a few minutes earlier. He jogged through the corridors towards the training room. He hoped he would get there soon enough that he might even get a few snogging minutes in before they buckled down for the evening studies. They had started using the desks in the training room as a study place because it was quieter than the library and the common room, as well as no one else would be able to interrupt them - other than Tonks or Dumbledore.

He unlocked the door and pulled it open right as Ginny was uncorking a potion vial. "Ginny what are you taking?" Harry wasn't aware of her being sick in the slightest. The light green color suddenly clicked in his mind from a memory in his fourth year. He strode over to her as she had frozen at being caught while trying to drink it. She started to try and hide it, but he gently pulled it from her hand. "Ginny, why are you taking a Pepperup potion?"

"I just need a little extra energy, Harry."

Harry tuned into her feelings, and while they didn't feel false, there was the feeling she was hiding something. He couldn't tell what was going on, but she seemed very fragile. Being as gentle as he could, he asked her, "Tell me what's going on, Ginny."

"Nothing Harry, I've been a little tired and needed something to help me through the evening."

Again, not false, but there was that hiding feeling. Harry couldn't figure out what wasn't right until he considered a dose of this would last about eight hours, which meant she'd be up until almost three in the morning. He didn't know why he did it, because he trusted his girlfriend with his life, but he reached for her bag on the desk and started digging through it, hoping and praying he wouldn't find what he was afraid of. The clues of her tiredness and then extreme energy, not to mention more giddiness than usual, came into his mind. He'd been ignoring all that as simple stress. He was tempted to try and look at her memories, but she'd learned Occlumency from him very well over the last month; plus that seemed too untrusting. Forcefully digging through her bag was bad enough.

"Harry! What are you doing?" She tried to snatch the bag from him. Hoping there was nothing sharp in there, he thrust his hand to the bottom and found some small glass objects. Grabbing as many as he could, he pulled out four vials of a light green potion.

He couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Ginny! What have you been doing to yourself?"

With the evidence in his hand that she couldn't hide or ignore, she almost seemed to wilt. Slumping against the desk behind her, she put her face in her hands and the tears started. "I'm sorry, Harry," she started sobbing, "I'm so sorry." He put her bag and the vials down on the desk and pulled her into his arms. "I couldn't take it anymore ... You must hate me now that you know I couldn't take it ... I'm so weak ... I've failed you ..." Harry held her as her whole body shook with her sobs.

Why she'd done this wasn't hard to figure out. "How long have you been doing this, Ginny?"

It took a few moments, but she finally admitted, "About three days."

_Oh my god,_ thought Harry, _she's being going non-stop for three days?_ "Don't you remember what happens when you stay on Pepperup for an extended period of time?"

"I didn't care," she whimpered, "I was so far behind. There's so much to do. So what if I slept for an entire day. I'd get caught up, maybe even get ahead. I'm almost there now."

Harry shook his head at that rationalization. She'd be lucky to sleep for only one day after this long on Pepperup. Thinking through her timetable, he realized she had an independent study class all morning tomorrow; that helped tremendously. He had double Charms. His grades in there were literally at the top of the class; he could skive off if need be, though he didn't think that would be required. "All right, Ginny, I'll help you get through this. I need to know one thing. Are all your Pepperup vials here in your bag?"

"Yes," she told him meekly. "All that's left."

Lifting her up and sitting her on the desk, he upended her bag and found another vial. "Six, that's all Ginny?" She nodded. He stuck the vials in his book bag and then put all her stuff back into her bag. With both bags in one hand, and the other helping her down off the desk, he started walking her back to the tower. "Come on. Let's get you to bed. I'll have Hermione help you up the stairs."

"No Harry!" Some life came back into her voice. "Please don't tell her. Don't tell anyone!" Her small voice came back. "It's so embarrassing."

"Sssh, I know you wouldn't normally do this. It's just that you were overly stressed."

"I am, but please don't tell anyone Harry. It's bad enough knowing I've failed you. I'd die if Hermione, Ron, and especially Mum ever found out."

"You haven't failed me, Ginny, but I understand you're not proud of this. I won't tell them, but you have to promise me you'll never do this again."

She whispered, "Yes, never again."

He was having to half carry her up the last of the stairs to their tower as she was fading fast. "Puking Pastries" he told the Fat Lady in the portrait. The magical lady looked in sympathy at Ginny before she opened.

Fortunately, Hermione was in the common room studying. Harry went over there as fast as he could, considering he was almost carrying Ginny now. "Hermione, I need your help quick!" he hissed trying not to be too loud. The girl prefect jumped up to get to the other side of Ginny.

"What happened?"

"She worked herself into exhaustion. Can you get her up to bed by yourself? I'd carry her but the stairs won't let me up." Hermione looked around and got one of Ginny's dorm mates to come over and help. "Let her sleep through the morning, she needs it."

"What about class tomorrow?"

"I'll take care of it. You can get her up in time for lunch tomorrow."

"Harry! That's like sixteen hours of sleep!" Hermione informed him as the girls started walking towards the stairs.

"I know, but she needs it. I've got something to take care of, thanks Hermione!" Harry left her and went up the stairs to the boys dorm.

Setting the two bags down, he took the six vials out of his bag and went into the bathroom where he poured out the contents and washed them. Going back to his bed, he put the now empty vials back into Ginny's bag. He'd give it to her tomorrow.

He was tired both emotionally and physically from dealing with the surprise situation, but he was also caught up on all his work so he thought he'd turn in. Changing into his pyjamas, he crawled into bed at the early hour of half past eight and pulled his bed curtains closed. It took him an hour to put his thoughts into order before he allowed himself to fall asleep. He was not happy with the present situation. It was time to make some different choices.

* * *

The next morning, Harry did his calisthenics as usual, then grabbed a light jacket and put it on as he went downstairs. Heading outside, he knew that soon it would be too cold for this and he'd have to start using some of the long corridors in the castle for jogging. Fortunately there was no snow yet, so he continued to go outside.

Jogging was good this morning. He could just do it and let his mind wander. The first place it went to was how stupid he'd been not to notice the change in Ginny sooner. He couldn't believe he hadn't seen this over the last three days time, or felt the change in her, or something. The other part of him argued that some of the things he liked about Ginny was that she was smart and clever, and smart and clever people could hide things like this for short periods of time very easily. The clues had been there, but he hadn't had any reason to try to put them together, he hadn't been aware there was a puzzle to solve.

At the same time, his mental life was pretty strained right now too. It was sobering to consider what he would have done if he'd come up with the idea himself. He didn't think he would have done it, but a small part of him wasn't totally sure. What helped in this case was the shock of catching Ginny taking the potion. He was going to have to watch her carefully for awhile.

The rest of the time he had a mock conversation with Tonks about all this, which was going to happen after breakfast. Actually, he had several virtual conversations, they changed depending on what facts he let out. By the time he got back his dorm room for a shower, he still hadn't decided how to explain the changes that _were_ going to happen.

At breakfast, Hermione again asked about Ginny, but Harry kept to his story though adding she'd stayed up all night the night before to help explain the extreme exhaustion. Hermione seemed to buy that and Harry left as quickly as he could to avoid more questions.

When he showed up in the training room, he surprised Tonks. "Harry? What are you doing here? It should be Ginny."

"She won't be here this morning Tonks, she's not feeling well."

"Oh, do I need to get Madam Pomfrey to go see her?"

"No, but she has a good reason for not being here and we need to talk about it." Harry steeled himself for what he thought was going to be a not so fun talk.

"OK, Harry, what's up?" Tonks could tell something serious was bothering the young man. She took a seat and let him sit too.

"Tonks, we've got to change the schedule. She's already finished her Pensieve lessons for this term, and I'll finish mine this week. That will help, but no more extra lessons for the rest of the term. We need to make all the independent study classes like a free period to study." Tonks looked confused at Harry's demands, and she recognized them as such.

His voice was starting to rise as he thought about his girlfriend's state. "Ginny has worked herself into exhaustion and she's sleeping it off now. It was so bad Tonks that she practically collapsed on me last night after dinner. The stress is too much - for both of us!" His feelings were reaching their peak and he snapped, "It must quit!"

Tonks was taken aback. This was all out of the blue for her, and Harry's reaction was like something she'd heard about from last year. Sure they were under stress, but Ginny collapsing? "Easy Harry, it's not that bad," Tonks tried to be calming, but she'd said the wrong thing and didn't know it.

"The bloody hell it isn't!" he shouted at her. "I caught Ginny becoming a Pepperup addict." Tonks' eyes went wide. "Yes, Ginny - the one who can handle anything couldn't handle this stress! Damn! Look at me," Harry finally realized what he was sounding like, "I'm going bonkers here too." He started taking deep breaths to calm down.

"She was taking Pepperup?"

In a dejected voice he told her about the situation. "Yes, it was her third day when I caught her. I hadn't even realized the signs for what they were. She said she was so far behind it was the only way she thought she could catch up and stay even with all her work." He looked up at her very seriously. "She'd kill me if she knew I told you, so you can't tell anyone, Tonks."

Tonks looked at him and nodded, "I swear, Harry, I won't tell anyone." Now she had some thinking to do. In this light, Harry's demands weren't unreasonable. There was a little less than a month to end of term and a little less than two weeks to their OWLs and NEWTs. "All right Harry. How about this? These classes turn into study periods, but I'll still come to answer questions as well as tutor when you have time for new things. I'd still like dueling practice for an hour every Tuesday afternoon to stay sharp; you can have the other hour for studying. That applies to both you and Ginny. Next term, we'll be more careful and I'll talk to each of you regularly about how you're really doing. I have to push you to get you ready for who knows what whenever it happens, but you're right that burned out is not a good place to be."

That was practically everything he'd asked for, but tempered with reality. "Thanks Tonks, and I would like you to teach us the dome shield spell before break starts. I'll tell Ginny about the class changes. By the way, the official story is that she stayed up overnight and overly exhausted herself."

"Right, Harry, I'll go with that. Now shouldn't you be in class?"

"Yeah, but it's only Charms and I have a better grade in there than even Hermione," he smiled. "Lots of late nights to do it. I'm only a couple of points ahead, but it is fun to hold over her." A trace of his normal smile came back to him Tonks noticed.

"I'm glad you were willing to tell me the truth, Harry, so let me help you out a little. You shouldn't be penalized for trying to help someone else in a crisis," Tonks told him as she started scribbling out a note of excuse for him to take to Flitwick.

"Thanks again for understanding. Oh, will you tell Professor Cobb I won't be showing up for my extra lessons with him for awhile?"

"Sure Harry, I'll take care of it this morning. See you this afternoon."

It was with a much lighter heart that Harry went to Charms class, though he knew he and Ginny were going to have to have a long talk that evening.

Tonks sat for a few minutes wondering how the situation had become so out of hand without her noticing. She also wondered if her observational skills were slipping. Her promise about this event would be kept, but she was also going to start keeping closer tabs on both of them. Deep down, she knew that if something bad happened to Ginny, it would affect Harry dramatically. Of course, she'd just been handed a quality example to point that out to her.

Thinking about the calendar, she realized it was about time for Remus to spend a day with Harry. She'd tried to work it out so he could come at least once a month. There was no doubt she loved the boy to death, but she also realized that there were some things she would never be able to discuss with him, once Remus had pointed it out to her. Teasingly, she told him that he should work with Harry some, and to her surprise he'd accepted. Yes, it was again time for Remus to do some of his magic here.

As she got up to go find Andrew, she also considered that perhaps it was time for her to work some magic on Remus. Things had reached a nice friendly spot, but they hadn't progressed much lately. Perhaps she needed a nice romantic situation to help things along. She let thoughts of her favorite wolf run around in her head as she slowly walked through the castle.

* * *

The OWLs for Harry and Ginny were to be at the end of the coming week. Being Sunday, they decided to relax and go outside for a walk. Ron and Hermione came with them. It was cold but not windy. The first snowflakes of the winter season were also lazily coming down, though it didn't appear there would be enough of them for any build up.

They had all been outside walking around, talking, enjoying the falling snow, and just generally acting like little kids. When their noses got too cold they decided to come in, raiding the kitchen for some hot chocolate sounded good to all four of them too.

After wiping their feet so as not to annoy Filch too much with supposed mud they couldn't see, they headed for the kitchen entrance. Unfortunately, they crossed paths with Draco Malfoy, who was wandering around the castle with Pansy Parkinson and his ever-present goons in tow.

"Well, look who we have here," Draco started off.

Harry thought of all the students wandering around the halls this afternoon, why did he have to come across this bunch? Still, he was prepared for Malfoy if the need arose. "Malfoy, please be civil for once and go your own way." Harry was going to try to be halfway polite and see if it helped.

Malfoy ignored his comment however. "You know Potter, I suppose I can understand why you picked the Weaselette, she's a pureblood after all; but I don't understand why you continue to hang around with this Mudblood."

It was what Harry had been waiting for, a good excuse. Still holding Ginny's hand in his left, he pulled out his wand and as he'd practiced so many times over the last couple of months, he pointed it towards Malfoy in a threatening manner with only a slight waver before it became rock solid in front of Malfoy's nose. "Malfoy, I'm warning you for the last time. Leave us alone or I will stop restraining myself." A few other students, who'd been nearby, stopped to look and slowly headed over to see what was going to happen.

Ginny watched Draco opened his mouth to tell Harry off, but no sound came out. She felt the tension drain from Harry and be replaced by a feeling that approached laughter, though it didn't show on his face. She knew he'd just done something but she couldn't figure out what or how. "What's wrong Malfoy?" she heard Harry taunt him. "Some first-year kick your arse so high it hasn't learned to speak yet?" Some sniggers came from the slowly growing crowd. Draco continued working his jaw but nothing was happening sound-wise.

Seeing the crowd on his way to a staff meeting, Snape walked up. "What's going on here?"

Harry didn't wait for Draco's problem to become evident yet, though Snape was looking in curiosity at the strange motions Draco was making. "Malfoy here was being his usual insulting self Professor. I was telling him to leave off it." Harry knew what was coming and started preparing for it.

"Mr. Malfoy?" But Draco didn't say anything, he only pointed at Harry, his mouth, and waved his wand around, which had been half drawn when Harry's had snapped up in front of his face. Snape used Legilimency on his protégé and saw Draco's thoughts on what he thought had happened; the Potions master immediately turned to Harry.

This was the true test Harry knew, trying to leave a weak thought of Malfoy insulting him on the outside of his mental shields as if it was a leak, he did his best to ignore all the emotions going through him and pushed on the back of his shields as hard as he could. "What did you do to him, Potter?" The mental probe was quite strong, as strong as anything Cobb had thrown at him in practice.

"I told him to back off sir. I never said any spells, you can ask everyone who was here." The probe continued and Harry didn't look away but bore the brunt of it while keeping a neutral face.

Snape finally looked around and asked, "Did anyone see Mr. Potter do any spells?" He saw multiple heads shaking no. Looking back at Draco he commanded, "Come with me, Mr. Malfoy," as he had no other recourse. There was one other possibility, but Severus didn't think Potter was capable of it; then again, there were rumors of him getting extra lessons and Tonks was in the castle frequently.

In the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey was quite perplexed. "It looks like a silencing spell was done on him, but when I do the removal spell, nothing seems to happen. Are you sure a spell was done on him?"

"I'm sure of nothing in this case," Severus Snape snapped. "I'll leave him to you and mention this to the Headmaster at the staff meeting I'm late for." He spun on his heel and left a panicked Draco Malfoy behind.

An hour later, the Headmaster came to the hospital wing and spoke with the resident healer, who was still baffled as to why young Mr. Malfoy could not speak. After hearing from Severus that it happened during an altercation with Mr. Potter, he decided to speak with Harry as well. Heading to Gryffindor Tower, he found the young man and his close friends revising for their upcoming exams. He suddenly decided that it might be best to speak to all four, so he asked them if he might have a private word with them.

They all looked at one another trying to figure out what was up as they followed the Headmaster to his office. Harry was very careful to keep a neutral face.

Once in his office, the Headmaster asked them about the incident and found two surprises. That no one admitted any spells were cast was expected. That Harry had his mental shields completely up and his mind locked down tight when Dumbledore did a gentle probe was a surprise. Then again, he hadn't tried to look into Harry's mind anytime recently, as it was normally considered a violation of privacy. It was quite possible that Harry simply kept them up all the time, which seemed quite likely the more the Headmaster thought about it because of having to deal with Voldemort and his mental attacks.

The much bigger surprise was that Ginny also had shields. When he did a mild probe on her, she flinched slightly; so she was good enough that she knew he had tried. It was a very gentle probe and really should not have triggered anything unless she was reasonably skilled. Of course that brought up the question as to why she thought she would need to be shielded. Who had taught her was also mildly interesting. There were only two real choices: Andrew and Harry; Severus won't have done it. He'd have to ask Andrew, but he expected a no. So why would Harry have taught her?

His very low level mental probes on Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger showed a scene of verbal hostility, unsurprising considering Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy's past, but their memories agreed no spells had been cast. He thanked them for their time and sent them off. He hated not having answers, but not knowing what else to do, he walked back to the hospital wing to suggest a specialist from St. Mungo's.

* * *

While Harry and his friends had a peaceful week at school, Draco Malfoy was spending his third frustrating day at St. Mungo's.

His Mum had finally stopped threatening the healers to do something when she realized they disappeared and didn't come back for hours when she did that. Still, they couldn't seem to figure out how to fix her son.

Late on the third day Healer Davies was making the rounds in the spell damage ward, on the first day back from a holiday, when he was pulled into a room by Healer Banks to look at a young man who couldn't speak anymore. A very worried mother was with him. When Davies asked about the case, Banks told him the diagnostic spells showed a silencing charm had been done, but it seemed irreversible. When he asked how it had happened, the young man handed him a piece of parchment.

Davies took a chair and read. It wasn't overly long, but as soon as he read the name Harry Potter on it, whom the boy had suspected had done something to him, he became very curious.

Trying to look as if he was evaluating the diagnostics Banks had handed him, he instead pondered his special case and its two patients. One of the six cases of bonding he'd told Harry about mentioned the couple documented had been suspected of doing things people couldn't explain, but it could never be completely proved the couple had done the events in question. Davies began to wonder if Harry and Ginny had similar powers. Of course, the skilled use of magic coupled with high intelligence and cleverness would make it extremely hard to prove anything, and Harry and Ginny struck him as having such qualities.

Finally getting back to Banks, Davies suggested, "Please go get at least four other healers to come in and help." Banks gave him a questioning look before leaving, but followed order nevertheless.

Narcissa Malfoy asked the obvious question. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to try something unusual to heal your son. There is no standard therapy to help him other than letting it wear off, so I must try something a bit unorthodox." He refused to explain further as the other healers were entering the room.

There were six of them total, Davis hoped it would be enough. He told them to do a _Finite Incantatum_ on the count of three, and he hoped their combined power would remove the spell. Draco got lucky in that it worked.

The first words out of the boy's mouth were, "That bloody git did something to me, didn't he?!"

Davies was taken aback by the vindictiveness and arrogance of the lad. "Excuse me?"

"I said, he did this to me didn't he? Harry Potter cursed me."

Davies shrugged and said, "I wouldn't know," before he walked out.

Healer Banks quickly caught up with him in the hallway and asked, "How did you know that procedure would cure the boy?"

Davies wasn't sure so he made the pithy comment, "An unlucky guess." He wondered for the rest of the evening if he should put this event down as a supposition in the Potter/Weasley file in his private safe.

Malfoy returned to school on the fourth day after the incident. To make matters worse for the Slytherin, Headmaster Dumbledore called Draco into his office and told him that after an investigation, it was unknown what had happened to him. It was also suggested that it would be in everyone's best interest, Draco's included, if he left Harry and his friends alone.

* * *

Late Sunday evening, a few hours after Malfoy was taken to St. Mungo's, Ginny finally got Harry to admit he'd put a silencing spell on Malfoy. She was joyful and laughter overflowed. When he told her he'd done it soundlessly and with very small wand movements, she was in awe and wanted to learn. He told her over Christmas might be a good time to learn the theory, while the practical part would have to wait until they were back for next term. When he'd told her it was bloody hard, that didn't stop her enthusiasm.

With Malfoy gone most of the week, it was very enjoyable. All of Harry's classes seemed more relaxed. He started wondering after the second day of the Slytherin's absence why it was taking so long to remove a simple silencing spell, but he hoped it would take them a very long time.

Thursday, Malfoy was back and Harry decided he needed to be extra careful and watch his back. Harry did his best to unobtrusively guard Ginny too. He also told her not to go anywhere outside the tower alone for the rest of the term. She fought him for a few minutes, but she eventually gave up when she could feel his stubbornness outweighed hers, which was saying something special she thought.

He didn't have to worry about Ginny for a couple of days though as she left mid-morning for the Ministry of Magic and was gone the rest of the day and into the evening for her Arithmancy and Astronomy OWLs. They both left Friday morning for the Ministry building for their Runes OWL and Ginny for her History of Magic OWL. All the test sessions held four or less students, and in her Arithmancy OWL the day before, Ginny had been the only one taking it.

While they both felt they'd done well, they were still on tenterhooks while waiting. It didn't help that they were told to expect the results sometime on Tuesday. Tonks was indeed correct the scores wouldn't take long with the small number of tests being taken. Harry spent most of the weekend revising for his upcoming NEWT while Ginny started revising for her end of term exams.

When the normal postal owls came Tuesday morning, two big brown owls flew into the Great Hall and each brought a letter, one to Ginny and the other to Harry. Ripping the envelopes open, they each breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at one another. Exchanging letters, Harry saw Ginny had been awarded four Outstandings, while Ginny saw Harry had also got an Outstanding on his one test. Now Harry had his NEWT on Friday to deal with.

During that day's training session, Tonks also taught them the dome shield. "That's all there is to it guys, but be aware that because it's spread out completely around you, the normal shielding properties are also spread out; that makes it a weak shield and easy to break."

Harry nodded, "OK I understand that, but with our ability to do spells at an increased power level, that really won't be so bad, will it?"

Tonks was dumbstruck. "Duh, sorry Harry, I forgot about that. So yes, this could be a more useful spell for you two than for the average person. Of course, as my Auror instructor pointed out, though not a good shield, any shield is better than nothing when the battle is going to hell in a hand basket," she said cheekily and winked at them.

Sure enough, Tonks could break down the dome shield around the couple, though it did take her over half a dozen spells to do so. Satisfied they had the hang of it, she sat down to start planning for next term while they used the rest of the class time to revise.

Ron and Hermione left on Thursday to take their History of Magic NEWT, and Harry took his Runes NEWT on Friday; he was the only one to take the test. As he was about to leave, Professor Marchbanks told him to go have lunch and come back to see her. Harry shrugged and went out of the testing room to find Mr. Weasley, who was there to pick him up and take him back to school.

Instead of heading back to school, they went and had lunch together. The more time Harry spent around Mr. Weasley, the more Harry came to like and respect the reserved man. That didn't change even when he asked Harry how Ginny was doing, then how the two of them were doing. When Harry slipped and said not only how wonderful Ginny was but also how he couldn't imagine Ginny not being in his life, Arthur Weasley only smiled. While the boy wanted to crawl under the table, he appreciated the older man so much for not saying anything.

After lunch, Harry went back and found Professor Marchbanks. "Ah, Mr. Potter, here are the two pieces of paper I'm sure you're interested in. This first one summarizes your results, while this second one is the official one that matters."

Harry opened the second one first. It was a certificate awarding Harry James Potter an Outstanding for the NEWT in Ancient Runes. "Thank you, Professor!" To say that Harry was thrilled was an understatement.

The old witch congratulated him. "I look forward to seeing you again next spring for the rest of your NEWTs Mr. Potter."

"Thank you Professor, but I'll be taking at least three of them this spring, then the rest next spring as I'm doubling up on some of my studies."

"Oh? Which ones?"

"Charms, Transfiguration, and Defense." Realizing what he'd just given away, he added. "Though I'd really appreciate it if you didn't mention it to anyone; I really shouldn't have told you that."

She gave him a funny look then comprehension dawned on her. "Right, we don't want that information getting to certain people, do we? Don't worry, Mr. Potter, I won't say anything. However, please be aware that once the tests are taken and entered into the Ministry's records, they are available to the public."

"They are?" Harry wasn't aware of that.

"Yes, young man," she smiled at him. "You want perspective employers to be able to find you, don't you?"

"Oh, yeah, I hadn't thought about that." He told her good bye until next time then went out and found Mr. Weasley still patiently waiting. After sharing the good news, Arthur congratulated him while he escorted the young man back to the Floo point and Harry went back to school.

He got congratulations on his NEWT from his friends, and he had to give congratulations because Ron and Hermione's scores came while he was gone. She was ecstatic with her Outstanding, and Ron was thrilled with his Exceeds Expectations. After that, all four of them had no worries about end of term exams; those now appeared simple in comparison.

* * *

.


	16. Home

Version: 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

(A/N 2006: When I originally outlined this story, I simply wrote "trouble over the holidays", not really planning this. Yet, this and the next chapter ened up being my favorites in this story for some reason I have trouble explaining. Also, yes I am aware that I've rearranged the bedrooms and floors in the The Burrow so they aren't like the book. I didn't realize that until some time after the story was originally posted. So please ignore that inconsistency; it's not getting changed now.)

* * *

**Chapter 16: Home**

End of term exams finished. Everyone who could went home for the Christmas holiday. Harry had signed up to leave so he could go to The Burrow. Hermione wanted to come, but her family had planned a vacation on Crete to spend time with her. She would come to The Burrow a couple of days before returning for the new term. Tonks had arranged to borrow Professor McGonagall's Floo for safety reasons, and even she started losing patience at Hermione's and Ron's long parting.

Harry and Ginny used this opportunity to test their directional ability. Ginny went first and then Harry "accidentally" dropped his bag and wand to give him a moment to try to tune into her. He need not have worried about what Tonks thought as his guardian was still shooting daggers at Ron for taking so long with Hermione. It was much harder, but Harry could still faintly feel Ginny behind and below him, so there probably was an upper limit to the range he thought, but they weren't likely to hit it as long as they stayed in Britain.

Harry already had a present for Ginny. Tonks gave him some help by picking it out, once he told her what he was looking for.

Mrs. Weasley had waited until the kids came home to do most of the decorating. She had them decorate The Burrow to keep them busy, and if she'd been honest with herself, out of trouble as well. It was kind of hard to decorate everything because in some cases a pair of people were needed, and Ron felt left out since Ginny had Harry to pair with and Hermione wasn't available.

Charlie came home two days before Christmas. He was shocked at developments back home. He'd Apparated into the backyard near the back door, and when he came inside, it was to see his little sister wrapped in Harry's arms and the two of them with their faces pressed together - mistletoe was not above them either.

"Uh, Ginny?" Charlie wasn't sure if he was seeing things or not, but that did look like his sister, though he had to admit she didn't look like the skinny early teen he'd last seen her as a year ago. Apparently, Harry didn't see her that way either he mused. Charlie was even more amused to see them break apart like they'd been hexed; well, like his mum had caught them he considered.

Ginny pulled away from Harry and ran to him. "Charlie!" she squealed.

Her brother dropped his bag and gave her a big hug. She was taller than he remembered too.

Harry walked over and shook his hand. "Charlie, welcome back, and thanks for the boots! I can't believe you gave me something that special."

Returning the grip Charlie told him, "It was no problem, and when someone asked me for them anyway," he gave a sideways glance to his little sister, "how could I refuse her?"

"Charlie!" she sounded scandalized.

"Oops! Sorry," but his grin didn't look sorry and Ginny's reproving face quickly changed back to a happy one. "So what's up with you two? Of course, by the way I caught you just now, I'm not sure two is the appropriate number. I'd swear you were trying to melt into one."

Both of the teens turned a bit red. Harry studied his boots a bit while Ginny explained, "It's hard to get a private moment here, especially away from Ron and Mum."

"Oh? Mum I guess I can understand, but why Ron?"

"He and Hermione finally started dating," Ginny giggled. "So he's a bit put out that she's not here while I do have Harry here. Mum knows we're dating, but you should see the glares she gives me when we do something as simple as hold hands. I'd swear she still thinks I'm ten."

Her older brother laughed. "Well, you two carry on. I'll go put my stuff away and I'm sure Mum will have to talk to me for awhile, so you should have some," to have fun with them he moved his eyebrows up and down a few times, "private time for awhile." Harry glanced back down with a pink tint while Ginny hit her brother on the shoulder as he walked out of the room. As soon as her brother was gone though, she returned to Harry's arms where she was welcomed back. Both teens were glad Charlie was fine with them being together.

When her mother checked the living room later, she found Ginny and Harry sitting by the coffee table with the craft box out and busy working. She smiled at the scene in front of her and returned to the kitchen. Ginny was explaining about the family Christmas ornaments they put on the tree. "Everyone has their own," she told him. "You should have one, you just have to decorate it."

"What do you mean?" He thought this kind of stuff was only for girls.

"I mean you take this ball," she handed him what he recognized as a Styrofoam ball, "and you put whatever you want on it to represent you, or what's important to you. You can draw on it, cut out things and glue them on, whatever you want. Then we put a hook in the top and hang it on the tree."

He still wasn't sure about this. "Where's yours? Maybe that will give me an idea about all this."

She smiled at him and he felt her playful mood, "Not telling, but if you look on the tree, I bet you won't have trouble finding it."

Looking around, he found other large ornament balls on the tree. The one with the dragons on it could only be Charlie's. He found two that were just alike with a Beater Bat, little rubber chickens, and little springs with a toad head on it in what appeared to be a swamp; those were the twin's obviously. Then he saw one with a lightening bolt, a little book, a miniature wand, a small dried flower, and a charm that said "Lucky #7" on it. Harry smiled at it, it was so her.

Going back to the table, he decided to give it a try as Ginny encouraged him. He dug around in the craft box and looked for things to give him ideas. He distractedly asked Ginny a question while she helped him pull things out of the box. "So, when did you add the lightning bolt to your ornament?"

She blushed at that and didn't answer for awhile. Eventually she said, "Three Christmases ago."

Harry stopped searching and counted backwards in his mind. "The Christmas of your second year?"

Smiling, she corrected him. "The Christmas after my first year." He started to argue that was the same thing until he realized the significance wasn't the year, it was the event that preceded it. It was him saving her. He looked at her in awe and dismay that she would put him on a pedestal like that. She must have felt that because she also told him, "You gave me my life Harry. That was important enough to remember."

"I also saw a book on there too."

"As that's why you had to save me, it went on too; or at least that's what I told everyone else. But I've already told you the real reason."

He thought back to their discussion about the chamber from the summer. "It represents Tom Riddle and how he changed you, doesn't it?"

She grimly nodded. "So what are you going to put on yours?"

He thought about his life changing events. Digging through the container of little charms, he found another wand. That would represent when he first found out he was a wizard. He had her put it on near the top while he searched on. He saw a little heart, and that made him think of her and then he knew what he wanted. Pushing the little charms around with his finger so he could look at them all, he finally found a sword and what looked like a doll arm with a hand. Using some scissors, he cut the hand off and had her put that and the tiny sword on opposite sides of the ball. Trying as hard as he could, he could not find the last item he wanted.

Picking the scissors back up along with some red paper, he began to cut. It took him four tries, but he finally got a reasonable looking double heart shape out of it, which he glued on in the middle. When he finished, he thought it looked plain and rather corny, but it did represent what was important to him.

Ginny looked at it a bit and finally realized the significance of the last three items and started crying as she hugged him. Unfortunately, it was at that time her mother came back in to check on them. "Ginny, is something wrong dear?"

Her daughter looked at her in surprise, sniffled, and said, "No mum," as she left Harry and ran for her room. Harry could feel her love for him and a remembered pain, but didn't fully understand her action, although he could guess.

"What happened Harry? Why is she crying?"

Harry stood up and hung his ornament on the tree before he told her in a rather distant voice, "Memories." He too left the room and went after Ginny. Molly was left standing there bewildered.

Walking over to the tree, she looked at Harry's ornament. The wand would probably represent him finding out he was magical, and that made sense. The double heart would represent them dating she thought, which bothered her a bit. The sword and especially the hand made no sense at all to her. When she asked Ginny later, her daughter didn't offer any explanation other than, "They're important to Harry." Even when she corned Ron, he only shrugged for an answer. That started Molly thinking about how little she really knew about Harry's life.

* * *

Christmas morning, Ron got up early - the only day of the year he purposefully did so. He quickly got dressed and woke up Harry as he left the room to go downstairs to see what was waiting.

Harry slowly blinked awake. Looking around the room, he saw a pretty girl leaning against the door frame looking at him. Somehow in his sleep fogged state of mind, he still remembered to reach for his glasses to keep up appearances, even though he could see her very clearly. "Ginny?"

"Morning Harry," she softly spoke as she came into the room and sat down on the foot of his bed. "Happy Christmas."

"Happy Christmas, Ginny," he returned to her. He was about to get out of bed when he realized he'd slept in only an old T-Shirt and his boxers. He'd been so tired last night after wrapping presents he didn't feel like finding his pyjamas.

"Aren't you going to get up and come down so we can trade presents?" she asked unaware of his problem.

"Yeah, sure, ah, as soon as you leave so I can get dressed."

"I can't stay?" She looked innocent when saying that, but Harry could feel other feelings from her; ones he didn't normally associate with girls. Of course, if he was honest with himself, he knew they must have them because he'd felt them from Ginny a couple of other times before; but they still surprised him anyway.

"You can stay only if you want your Mum to come find you watching," he told her knowing what the answer would be.

Ginny quickly got up at that thought and made a hasty retreat, but not before telling him, "Don't take too long Harry, I do have something for you downstairs." She left and closed the door behind her. Grabbing some clothes, he quickly got dressed and stopped by the bathroom on the way down. She was sitting on the couch with a mug of hot cocoa in her hand and another on the table beside her. Ron was already digging through the presents. Their parents were in the kitchen, while Charlie was missing, probably still in bed.

His girlfriend handed him his hot drink, which he thanked her for after his first sip. She then handed him a small box wrapped in gold paper, which he unwrapped it under her watchful eye. When he opened the box, he saw a very nice wristwatch, which was quite welcome as he'd never replaced the one he'd ruined during the Tri-Wizard Tournament. "This is incredible, Ginny, thanks!"

She could tell he really meant it too as she could feel the glowing feelings from him. "You told me to buy you a present so I did." It took him a minute before he realized this was how she'd used the extra money she had when he had bought her new robes. "It's got a built-in compass, a special hand just for me like Mum's clock." Indeed, there was an extra red hand on it pointed at the word "Home". "And," she continued, "it's guaranteed to be waterproof and spell proof, so if something happens to it, you can get a new one for free."

Putting the watch on, he decided he liked how it looked. "Wow! It's good-looking and practical, just like you," he told her.

At least half of that was a complement, so she assumed the other half was too, though she wasn't sure. Boys could be so weird about saying something that sounded good to them but really wasn't. "So what did you get me?" she asked coyly. Her parents came into the room as Harry reached under the tree and pulled out a silver wrapped box that was only a little bigger than the box his watch had come in.

She took the box from him and daintily unwrapped it. It had taken him nearly fifteen minutes of careful work to get it wrapped nicely last night before he put it under the tree. Opening the box, she gasped and looked at him. "Oh Harry, they're beautiful!" That got her mother's attention though Ginny didn't notice. She couldn't decide which to look at first. The locket finally won out.

Picking up the rather larger than average sized locket, she slowly turned it over in her hand looking at the fine craftsmanship, as well as the ornate script "G" on the front. Pressing the catch, it clicked open. When she'd opened it all the way, she saw a picture of her on one side and a picture of Harry on the other. Since they were wizarding photos, the two smiled and blew kisses at one another. They were both dressed up, which caused her to consider when they were taken. Recognizing the light blue dress as the one she'd worn on their date to the Room of Requirement, she finally remembered that Colin had taken their picture when they'd returned to the common room that night. Slowly closing it with a big smile on her face, she held it out to Harry. "Will you put it on me please?" She could have done it, but she preferred his touch.

Harry took the chain from her and draped it around her as she held her hair out of the way. It was a fairly short chain, so it hung just below her neck and would be visible with most of her clothes. The locket felt heavy on her chest, but she liked it there.

Now she pulled out the earrings and gave them a closer look. They had small rubies that appeared to be suspended with golden threads in the middle of a golden cage that was shaped like an upside down tear drop with the point on the bottom. The little stud earrings she had in now came out. She handed them to Harry to put into his pocket to hold for her since she was wearing a skirt. On went the new jewelry.

Remembering the mirror on the wall, she walked over to it and admired it all on herself. Harry had come up behind her like on her birthday and looked over her shoulder. Not caring what her mother would think, she turned around and gave him a long hug and whispered "Thank you". She also gave him a short kiss as she broke away. Her mother gave her looks over the girl's familiar demonstrations with the boy, but Ginny politely ignored the looks to keep the peace for the day.

All the other presents were enjoyed, but their gifts to each other were the only ones that really counted to them.

Mrs. Weasley did her usual magnificent job on the Christmas meal. Bill and the twins came over and joined them for it. Only Percy was missing, as he still hadn't made peace with his family. The setting was so "family" Harry couldn't imagine it being any better. It all truly felt like home to him. The piece that made it all so, he'd finally realized, was Ginny.

— — —

Late that evening, Bill and the twins had left to go back to their own places and the remaining six had gone to bed. It had been such a wonderful day, Harry was having trouble getting to sleep. He thought about sneaking into Ginny's room since she had it to herself, but in searching for her feelings, all he could feel was an easy peace. Based on past experience, he knew she was asleep already. He could read a book he thought, but then again, he'd had very little time to look at and play with his new watch too.

He still had his glasses on for some reason, he guessed he was just used to them being there. He reached for his wand and in his mind said _Lumos_ to give himself light. It took him a few minutes, but he finally figured out how to make the compass work. Reading the enclosed instructions would have made it too easy. He also noticed it had the day of the week, the date, and the current phase of the moon, which showed to be nearing the new moon. Good for people like Remus he supposed. He was wondering what other spells could be put on a watch when the little red hand flicked to "Mortal Peril". He froze.

What could hurt them in them in The Burrow he wondered? Then he could have sworn he heard breaking glass. The bedroom door was opened only a crack so sound from downstairs would be muffled. Thinking _Nox_ to turn off his wand, Harry silently got out of bed and pulled his robe on. Opening the door only as wide as he needed to squeeze through, he went out onto the landing at the top of the stairs. He wished he could see in the dark. He was starting to think his imagination had been playing tricks on him when he barely heard a hissed, "Idiot! Are you trying to wake up them up?"

That settled it. Now he had a problem. How could he protect the Weasleys, wake them up, and not let whoever it was downstairs know he was on to them? He'd bet the burglars were really Death Eaters, which made it a bit worse as they wouldn't care what else happened and to whom. If only he could seal the stairs, but that was a seventh year spell he had yet to learn. Then he remembered the warding book the Weasleys had given him. There was a sealing ward in there, but he couldn't remember it.

Suddenly, it didn't matter anymore; he heard footsteps on the stairs as they started to come up. Hoping it was the right thing to do, he aimed down the stairs and whispered a concussion spell. Not only was it thunderous, it broke all the windows in the kitchen while it hurled whoever was on the stairs backward. He just hoped the flying body took others with it. Harry had accomplished four things: he had momentarily stopped whomever was down there, he had also woken up the rest of the house; unfortunately, he'd also alerted the intruders someone was up, as well as making himself slightly hard of hearing for a moment.

The first person to react was Ginny. He felt the waves of panic and fear from her as he went down and joined her on the landing. She had her robe on, but not tied, and wand drawn. "Someone's trying to break in and get up here," he explained in what he hoped was a normal voice, though in reality he was shouting. It didn't matter to the intruders, they could hear less than Harry at the moment.

Harry came over to her and stood in her doorway as Ron came to theirs. Harry was about to tell him what was happening when a jet of red light came from downstairs and took care of the task. It had been a wild shot, but Ron still dove back into his room and scrambled for his wand. Harry was standing in the cover of Ginny's room holding her hand for power sharing. He was about to find out just how well he could do left handed in a pressure situation. Charlie, closely followed by Mr. Weasley, started coming down from the floor above, but more spells from below prevented them from reaching the landing.

When Mrs. Weasley could be seen in the dim light from one of the bedrooms above, Harry cast a reflective shield on the stairway downward. "Hurry, run down to a room!" As they came down, more spells came flying up. The shield held for the first three spells that hit it, until a green Killing Curse came and burst the shield before continuing on, fortunately deflected slightly up and above everyone's head. Another Killing Curse came up and narrowly missed Mrs. Weasley as she ducked into Ginny's room. The two parents were with Harry and Ginny while Charlie was with Ron. All spells where being cast blindly, there just wasn't enough light to help aim, and no one wanted turn one on which would put their side at a disadvantage. Chaos and luck ruled the fight.

"Mr. Weasley, we've got to get out of here," Harry told the man.

"But we can't Floo from here," Mrs. Weasley almost screeched in panic. "The fireplace connected to the Floo network is down there."

"We can Apparate out, Molly," her husband told her. "Charlie can take Ron and we can take these two."

The words were no more out of his mouth when another green jet of light burst another of Harry's shields which was immediately followed by a second that hit the wall across from Harry, causing parts of the wall to fly mostly up. He heard someone scream. That was good Harry thought as he fired more stunners down the stairs; a scream meant someone was injured - not dead. Again he erected a shield, though part of him wasn't sure why he bothered. It appeared as if someone down there had worked out the solution of two of them firing Killing Curses in pairs. "Charlie's hurt bad," Ron called from above.

_Damn!_ Harry thought, _that also means we've lost one of the people we need to Apparate out of here._ He started to wonder if Mr. Weasley could take someone out and come back in time for the extra person before the forces down below could overwhelm the ones left waiting. A loud boom indicated it didn't matter anymore, the situation had just changed. When Harry looked across the landing again, most of the wall was missing as was part of the stairs. The Death Eaters downstairs were starting to take out the house.

"We must leave now," Harry said. Then an idea hit him. "_Accio Firebolt_," he whispered. His broom streaked at him. He'd forgotten he was still holding Ginny's hand. Only the fact that the broom didn't have a straight shot and had banged off a few walls saved him. Ron and Charlie were also fortunate in that they weren't in the path of the summoned broom. Still, it had almost knocked Harry over and he was going to have a big bruise from it hitting him. "Ginny get your broom quick." He tried to send a barrage of various quick to cast spells at the intruders to slow them down. He did hear one person start to laugh hysterically, so at least one of his spells had hit. The laughter died soon however, as it was reversed.

"You can't fly out of here," Mrs. Weasley told him. "You'll never make it."

"Yes we will. Mr. Weasley, it's the only way. You two have to Apparate up to Ron's room and then Apparate out with Ron and Charlie."

"What of you two? She is right that you can't fly very far as you are." Arthur flung some more spells down the stairs and a thump was heard, but another Killing Curse came back up too and hit the wall beyond the landing taking more of the house down.

"The Diggorys are near here." Harry thought back to meeting them near here in the summer before his fourth year. "We'll fly there and you can Apparate there and get us. Ginny do you know where they live?" She did.

"Harry, no." Harry thought that was stupid of Mrs. Weasley to say. They were tactically in a bad spot.

"I'll throw up another shield to make them think we're still doing the same thing. You'll only have a few seconds to go up to them before they figure out we're trying to leave," he all but commanded the older couple.

"Molly we must. Harry is right, we can't stay here." He grabbed his wife's hand. "All right, Harry, the best shield you have lad."

As he said the magical word and finished the wand motion for his golden shield powered by he and Ginny, he grunted, "Go!" The couple disappeared with a very audible crack before the shield splintered and a Killing Curse came up.

"Blow out the window Ginny and get ready to fly," Harry commanded his girlfriend. The small explosion startled him even though he was expecting it. Suddenly, he felt warm all over; Ginny must have done a warming spell on him. _Smart girl,_ he thought. "Go!" he told her and as he cast one more concussion spell down the stairs before he jumped on his broom and followed her out the window.

Like Ginny, as soon as he was out the window, Harry did a hard turn and accelerated as fast as he could. Quickly, he was away from the house and over the woods surrounding The Burrow; but they didn't slow down. The moon was a small crescent and gave little light, a blessing and a curse. Harry thanked his ability to know where Ginny was as he could barely see her. He concentrated on feeling her direction and tried to stay slightly to her left side so he would not run into her in case she came to a sudden stop. The warming charm was starting to wear off, but Harry didn't slow down, nor did Ginny. It didn't matter too much though as she was starting to descend. He thought he saw a small light on the ground, but he wasn't sure. A minute later, they dropped into a clearing in front of a nice looking medium sized house.

"Are you sure this is it?" Harry's teeth were starting to chatter. He pulled his wand back out and cast a warming charm on her first, then himself. He didn't give a damn about Underage Magic now, they were fighting for their lives and Minister Bones was not like Fudge had been.

"I've only been here once, but that looks right. Let's get behind those bushes in case Death Eaters come here too." Ginny's suggestion sounded good to him. Once hidden, Harry did another warming spell but aimed primarily at their bare feet. He thought his toes were numb and was grateful there was no snow on the ground to make it worse.

"Guess we just gotta wait now," he sighed in a whisper.

"Wish I had shoes and a good cloak," she tried the make the complaint good natured. "These warming spells don't last very long in this cold."

Harry was about to agree when two figures Apparated in with a slight crack as near to the porch of the house as the family's wards allowed. One did look like Mr. Weasley, but the other was not the Mrs., this person was too skinny for that. With his lips in her hair next to her ear, he told her as quietly as he could, "Petrify the right one on three." Making sure he wasn't touching her skin, he whispered the count and on three, both of them softly said, _Petrificus_ _Totalus_ and the two figures froze then fell over.

Ginny started to go over but Harry grabbed her arm, "Wait," he whispered. "Let's make sure it's only the two of them and not someone else with bad friends."

"But that looked like Dad."

"Polyjuice, disguises, glamours," he stopped there but the point was made. "I know I'm being paranoid but I think your Dad will forgive me for trying to keep you safe."

Since no one else had been seen after about a half minute, they walked over hand in hand. Ginny watched the pair on the ground, while Harry watched around them ready to cast a dome shield. "Looks like Dad," she told him. With a bit of effort she half rolled the other statue over and pronounced, "Looks like Tonks."

"Pick one, take their wand, unfreeze 'em, and ask them where headquarters is." Harry knew he was probably going overboard, but the phrase "constant vigilance" kept going through his head after what had happened at The Burrow.

Ginny did that to the man who instantly said, "Sirius's house in London." Turning to the other, Ginny unfroze her too.

"I understand being careful, Harry, but did you really have to freeze us?" Tonks asked.

"Sorry Tonks, but yes. I'm pretty edgy right now trying to keep the two of us safe."

The adults were standing now. "Well, Mad-Eye will be delighted to hear this," she said sarcastically. Each adult grabbed his or her charge and Disapparated out. The Diggorys never knew they'd had visitors.

As the four of them Apparated back into normal space on the front porch of number 12 Grimmauld Place, dread started to fill Harry. He really did not want to be here. The feelings for Sirius were still too strong and now they were coming out of hiding. Logically he knew he really had no choice, but his emotions were starting to take over.

Tonks opened the front door and led them in. Ginny saw Harry's face change in the light from inside the house, but worse yet were the feelings flowing from him. They seemed to be mostly sorrow and anger, but there was such a mix churning in him, it was hard to sort out. Mr. Weasley had to all but push the two teens in so he could close the door. Almost everyone was in the foyer and Harry felt like they were all pressing in. Then Mrs. Black's curtain got nudged a bit and she woke up and started screaming. That was the last little bit required and Harry couldn't take it from all the stress of the evening, the crowd, being back in Sirius's house, being reminded of Sirius's death, and now the painting yelling. Though his mind had snapped, he managed to retain just enough control to allow his rage to go in the one safe direction available. He dropped his broom, his wand snapped out, and without a word Mrs. Black and a square of the wall the size of the painting disappeared. There was now an inside window to the dining room from the foyer.

Ginny did her best to send him feelings of comfort, but he couldn't feel her. Instead he yanked his hand from hers and ran through the crowd for and up the stairs. Everyone instantly shut up and stared after the boy, except for Mad-Eye who not only watched him with his magical eye but also stared at the hole in the wall with his real eye. "Damn! I should of thought of that a long time ago," he growled.

"Mad-Eye! This is not the time for that. Didn't you see what just happened to him?" Molly was beside herself and started to go after Harry, until a hand grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"No Mum, it needs to be me," said Ginny as she started after Harry. Molly was outright shocked her daughter had said that to her.

"Ginny you can't, you're not dressed properly. And you wouldn't know how to handle it anyway."

At another time Ginny might have found it funny, but her hands went to her hips as she stared down her mother from the first step of the stairs in a perfect imitation of her mum. "I'm dressed enough to have him save my life, and yours too; therefore I'm dressed enough to help him. Besides, you have no idea what he's dealing with and I do."

"How would you now how to help a boy who's scared?" Molly was starting to really get wound up from her daughter back talking her like this.

"Mum, that's why you're the wrong person to help him. He's not scared, he's angry." Anger and embarrassment were the main things she felt from him. In fact, his anger was fueling hers right now, which she actually appreciated because her mum was being so restrictive. Not waiting for an answer back from her surprised mother, Ginny turned and ran up the stairs after him.

Molly couldn't believe her daughter had said those things to her. She started to go after her to straighten her out when Tonks stepped in front of her. "No Molly. I can't let you go up there. Ginny is correct. Only she can help him right now and he needs that help as soon as possible."

"Tonks you can't mean that," the older woman protested.

"I can and I do. Ginny already understands him better than you ever will. If you'd spent as much time watching them as I have, you would agree. They are good for each other." Tonks was trying to be gentle with her voice, but being firm in resolve was more important to Harry's Godmother at the moment.

"But she's my daughter; I have a right to take care of her."

"Molly," Arthur's voice grabbed his wife's attention because he'd been so silent before. "Are you still going to try to take care of her when she's married?" Molly gasped at that thought. "Ginny is heading towards sixteen. If she follows your example, she would be getting married in a year and a half, or maybe two." Arthur thought about his conversation with Harry a few weeks ago and the young man's statement about him not being able to imagine Ginny not in his life.

"But she's not sixteen and she's not getting married soon!"

"Maybe not," Arthur told her without any conviction. "But Molly, you can't stop time. She is almost grown up now and we need to give her the chance to finish. I wish she wasn't in this position right now, but just like you have important things to do for the Order, I can see that she has something important to do for the young man who saved us tonight. Come to the kitchen dear, a snack will help us all."

Molly stared at her husband then marched off, but not in the direction of the kitchen, but towards the library. Arthur understood that meant more discussion was coming and followed her. He had no idea what he was going to say to calm her down; he was hopeful that she would feel better after she vented for awhile.

Tonks breathed a sigh of relief and sat on the stairs. She wanted to go get a Butterbeer or better yet a shot of Firewhisky, but felt guard duty was required. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she looked up to see Remus smiling down at her. "I'll be back in a minute with something for you," she heard him say. She told him thanks as he walked towards the kitchen.

The others followed Lupin. A snack did sound good after the fighting, and Mad-Eye and the other three Weasley boys who had arrived just in time to see the excitement when Harry and Ginny walked in the door wanted to know what had happened that evening.

Leaving the kitchen as Ron was starting the story, as he knew it, Remus returned to Tonks with four Butterbeers as he guessed they'd be there awhile. He handed her two as he nudged her over so he could sit next to her on the step and share her burden.

"How long do you think it will be before she lets Ginny grow up?" Tonks asked him.

He took a swig of his drink before saying anything. "Being the youngest and the only girl will make it hard." Remus didn't really have an answer for the question. "I feel bad for Arthur having to deal with it all, but I must say I appreciate him trying to deal with it."

"True," she agreed. "Still, you nailed the problem during the summer when you said it was all about becoming a young man. If Molly could only see it's also about becoming a young woman, those two upstairs would have less stress in their lives."

"At least when they're at home. I would think they'd be all right at school," Remus speculated.

"Mostly, but end of June going to be a problem if Molly doesn't get herself straightened out."

"I couldn't agree more. Here's to you, since you're such a wonderful Godmother for letting your Godson grow up." Tonks laughed as Remus raised his Butterbeer to her and they clanked bottles. They continued talking about the evening very companionably.

— — —

Meanwhile, Ginny had found Harry in his old room; it had been the obvious place to look, ignoring the fact that she always knew what direction he was in. He was on his bed curled in a ball, but looking towards the door and wand at the ready. Ginny stood in the doorway and looked at Harry very carefully. She did her best to project comfort and love at him. In his right mind, she never feared Harry; but she was also concerned about him not totally being in his right mind at the moment. He felt and looked very confused amidst his anger. Caution was required if he was not in control of himself, as she respected his abilities greatly. Tonight had been an excellent example of what he was capable of.

"Harry - Harry, look at me darling." She did not plan to enter the room until she was sure she could make it all the way over to him. Having a wall to jump behind seemed very wise at the moment. She continued to project positive feelings at him while she tried to analyze him. Anger made sense because of the Death Eaters attacking. She knew some of it probably came from being forced to come here when he didn't want to, but she wondered where the rest of it came from.

The waves of embarrassment were pretty obvious. He didn't like the thought of losing it all like that in front of others. In some ways, she knew it was just a guy thing, but it was also Harry turning into a real leader. Harry had perfectionist tendencies in some areas and leadership was one of them. His being a leader was part of what drew her to him.

"Harry, I want talk to you. Will you let me talk to you?" He was looking right at her now. The stare was a bit less intense but the wand hadn't wavered.

She wondered if she could stun him before he could get a spell off, but she doubted it. He was almost unbelievably fast, even Tonks thought so. Soundless magic just made him more so, and he was continuing to become more proficient with it. "Harry, will you put your wand down so we can talk? You're safe with me. You know I would never hurt you. You know I love you, Harry."

His wand started wavering, and that concerned her. Was he doing a spell or just getting tired of holding it? Still trying to project love, she also continued to hold her hands out to show she had no wand: that was hidden inside her robe. Without warning, she felt something within him crumble and his wand fell from his hand to hit the floor. Slowly she walked toward him as he pulled his wand arm in and finished curling up into a fetal position. "Gin... " she heard him hoarsely whisper. Desire came from him now. Not physical desire, but desire for love, desire for her soul. Sitting next to him, she pulled his head into her lap and slowly rocked him while she held him as best she could and rubbed his back. She felt him start to cry as the emotional barriers he'd erected continued to come down. Realizing that she was starting to get through to him, she prayed his Occlumency barriers stayed up. If he had to deal with Voldemort now, it would be disastrous.

* * *

.


	17. Rebuilding

Version: 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

**Chapter 17: Rebuilding**

Ginny woke to pale light coming in the window. She'd eventually had to move last night from sitting at the side of the bed to where she was now, propped against the wall in a sitting position with Harry's head on her lap and his arms sort of stretched around her waist. This presented a problem because she had to get up. Not only was her bladder begging for relief, she also realized her arse was numb. Not the normal mental picture of a nurse taking care of a patient, which is the job she felt she'd had last night. It finally dawned on her that a quilt covered him and most of her. Tonks must have done that; her mum would not have let her stay with Harry all night.

The pillow was within reach, so grabbing that, she slowly extricated herself from his grip and put the pillow in her place. He was still asleep when she left for the bathroom down the hall. When she returned, she could feel him starting to wake and saw him stir. Laying down beside him this time to be more comfortable, she draped his arm across her stomach making sure his hand touched her bare arm. He seemed to like that because he quickly settled down and fell back into a deeper sleep.

However, Ginny was not sleepy anymore. She thought through last night very carefully, not only what happened but what she'd felt from Harry. She wasn't a mind healer, but she knew he was in a bad state emotionally now. The problem was, as much as she thought she knew him, she still didn't know enough. She was also pretty sure that he was going to fight the thing that would help him the most: talking about his problems with someone else. While she waited for Harry to wake, she slowly turned the problem over in her mind hoping for a new insight.

— — —

Though there were plenty of couches and beds on the first floor and on the third floor, as Tonks would not let anyone else on the second floor, no one slept well that night and everyone else but the young couple was up early. At first light, Arthur in borrowed clothes from Remus, joined Remus, Mad-Eye, Kingsley and a squad of Aurors at The Burrow. It was deathly quiet except for the rare animal sound in the surrounding woods.

Arthur was in emotional shock at the sight in front of him. While one could say that The Burrow was still standing - technically - it was obviously unlivable. The kitchen and dining room were totally open to the outside. Walking up to the house, he could see the living room was in only slightly better shape. Very carefully going up the stairs, or what was left of them, Arthur found major damage to the first and second floor as well. Somehow, the third floor and attic were mostly untouched. Grabbing a trunk from the back of their closet, he packed clothes for himself and Molly. Charlie's travel bag was easy to grab. Back down in the kids rooms though, there was little to retrieve, though with some effort, he did find Harry's dragon hide boots had acquired nothing more than a thick layer of dust. Shuddering from more than the winter's cold, he levitated the trunk back downstairs.

"I'm so sorry, Arthur," Kingsley's deep quiet voice told him. "I know this will hurt Molly the most, but at least everyone got out alive; even Charlie's leg wound wasn't all that serious once the piece of wood was removed from it. A lot of people in the War can't say they were this lucky."

Arthur wanted to argue with the tall dark man, but knew deep down he was correct. This would be hard to recover from emotionally, but things could be bought again and the house could be rebuilt. He also knew if he asked Remus that the man would let them live at Grimmauld Place too. His pride didn't want to do that, but he knew it would have to be done.

"By the way Arthur, we can't tell how many Death Eaters were actually here or what happened to them, but there's quite a bit of blood over there. Someone might have only cut themselves on some loose glass, but I'd say there was a good chance it was more than that." The head Auror hoped that would make the head of the Weasleys feel better.

"I need to take this back. Are you going to stay around for the morning?" Arthur asked Kingsley. "I'd like to come back after breakfast and try to recover what we can."

"We have some other things to do, but if you'll send me a message when you return, we'll come back too for a couple of hours to watch out for you. How's that?"

Arthur gratefully thanked the man as he Disapparated out with the trunk of clothes.

* * *

Everyone but Harry and Ginny were in the kitchen dressed in their normal clothes, feeling nothing like normal themselves. While Molly finished cooking breakfast, plans were being made to return to The Burrow for salvage operations. Arthur decided now was as good a time as any for his question. "Remus, I really hate to ask this of you, but would you mind if Molly and I stayed here until something more permanent can be arranged?"

"Not at all! I'd love the company, though I suppose it would be proper to ask Harry since it is his house." That dumbfounded all the Weasleys.

"I know Harry won't mind since he thinks of you as family anyway," Tonks spoke up. "And since I am his guardian, I say make yourselves at home and stay as long as you like."

"Thank you, Tonks," Molly was a little surprised at the young woman's graciousness after the words they'd exchanged last night.

As Molly was pulling all the food from the stove to set the table, Albus Dumbledore walked in. "Good morning everyone," then with some consideration, "or at least I hope it's as good as it can be." The old man received a number of greetings. "Could someone tell me about last night? It sounds like we may need to change our strategy again."

Arthur told the tale, though he had to start with the blast that woke him up. He told what he knew, including what happened with Harry when the four of them came back last night, as well as Harry's suspected traumatized state. When he mentioned The Burrow could not be lived in anytime soon, Molly couldn't bear it any longer and started crying quietly.

"Exactly how did it all start? Who made the blast that woke you up?" the head of the Order asked.

Ron answered that one as everyone else was silent. "I believe Harry did that. He's probably the only one who knows what happened at the beginning."

"I see." Albus thought deeply about all that for a moment. "It is most unfortunate for this to happen to Harry. How is Ginny doing?"

"She was well, last we saw." Molly looked like she didn't agree with Tonks' answer, but the mother didn't say anything. "They're upstairs sleeping, or so they were when I checked a couple of hours ago."

"Maybe I should take breakfast up to them." Molly got up, found a tray, and started filling two plates.

"Breakfast is a good idea, but I believe Ron should take it up." Tonks looked dead serious when she said it. "Harry needs to see his closest friends slowly, Molly; even I don't plan to go for some time yet."

"But ..." the mother started to object.

"I agree with her, Molly," Dumbledore broke in. "We need Harry to recover as quickly as possible; and his friends, especially Ginny, will be what allows that to happen."

"But why her?" Molly set the tray down harder than needed as she became more forceful.

"Because she knows him best." Tonks was very matter-of-fact about it all.

"It's true, Mum," Ron didn't know if he really wanted to be under his mother's scrutiny, but he did care for his friend and his sister. "If there was a NEWT on the subject of _Harry Potter_, Ginny would get an Outstanding. And Harry's not the same as he was from last year; I think she's really helped him change."

"Ron," Professor Dumbledore spoke up again, "would please take the tray upstairs? Try to talk to both of them and see how he's doing; but don't stay for more than about ten minutes." Ron nodded and grabbed the tray. He knew he was being sent away, but there was nothing he could do about it.

"And Ron," this time it was Tonks, "leave sooner if you need to, use your best judgment. Slow movements, a calm voice, and no surprises are very important around someone who has been through trauma and may be on edge."

As he reached the door, he heard his dad, "Ron, if you can, please ask Ginny if there was anything special we need to retrieve for her, but don't say from where so Harry doesn't get upset." Mumbling about not being able to remember it all, Ron went upstairs.

When the door closed, the Headmaster continued. "Molly, there is something you need to know, but it must be held in the strictest of confidences. Actually that applies to everyone here." Looking around he got nods from everyone, though Molly's took the longest. "There is something special between Harry and Ginny." Molly started to interrupt but he held his hand up to stop her. "Yes, I know they are boyfriend and girlfriend, but this is something beyond that. And no, I can't tell you what it is because even I don't know. However, there is something there; it might even be magical." Actually he suspected a magical bond, but couldn't begin to explain what it was much less how it got there. Plus he didn't want to scare Molly, so he didn't mention this thought.

"Are you trying to tell me they're, they're, ..." Mrs. Weasley couldn't finish the thought.

"No Molly. They're not engaged or anything like that, at least not to my knowledge." That wasn't the question on Molly's mind but she was glad to hear that from the Headmaster anyway. "However, I would be extremely surprised if they married anyone else. The tie between them is that strong."

"But she's only fifteen," her mother complained.

"Molly," Albus' eyes twinkled at her. "I don't think you have anything to worry about there. They both are very responsible, and until the War is over, I firmly believe Harry will not even consider marriage."

Mrs. Weasley mulled this over for a moment and no one else said anything. "So you don't know what's happening between them?" she finally asked.

"Other than being boyfriend and girlfriend? No. Also, it wouldn't matter if you or I asked." That caused her to look at him curiously. "I am quite certain that not only would they not tell me, or you; but they are both powerful enough magically to prevent anyone from finding out."

Molly gasped. Tonks hid a smile having seen that power in action, though she didn't realize Dumbledore also meant their mental shields in addition to their power sharing.

"Yes, Harry is well on his way to becoming the powerful wizard we all knew he would be. He will soon be challenging me in duels and winning." Molly went even more wide-eyed. "You must not think that powerful wizards will seek just any witch. Like everyone else, they will seek a witch like them - someone who's also powerful. So don't be surprised that Harry and Ginny are together; she is powerful enough herself to be well matched with him. They will be very special together one day." _A power that He knows not,_ the Headmaster thought but could not say out loud, even to this group.

"Are you serious Albus?" Arthur asked.

"Very much so," said the Headmaster. Looking over at Bill and Charlie, he added, "They must not be told this, though they're probably aware of it on some level." The old man was glad the twins were not there; he wouldn't have shared this if they had been, but Molly needed to hear these views.

They started discussing The Burrow again not long before Ron returned. They looked at him eagerly for his report.

* * *

As Ron went up the stairs, he was sure they had gotten rid of him so they could talk about something he was certain he'd want to hear. He tried to console himself with getting to see his best mate, something Tonks wouldn't let the others do.

Arriving at his and Harry's normal room, he slowly looked through the doorway and saw Harry and Ginny sitting on Harry's bed leaning against the wall, both fully dressed in their normal casual clothes as if they were having a normal conversation. It was so weird because he was sure that wasn't happening. He'd heard nothing when walking up the stairs and down the hall, and the look on Harry's face was not normal. He looked like a caged animal looking to bolt Ron finally decided; except that Harry was only watching him very carefully. Thinking about the hole in the wall downstairs, Ron was thankful Harry did not have his wand in hand. Tonks' words of caution suddenly became very real to him. On a good day, Ron might have admitted to some illusions of grandeur, but he always knew Harry was better with spells, plus Harry had all those extra classes.

"Hi Harry!" He'd tried to be cheerful and his voice had cracked. "I brought you breakfast." He did his best to be calm and walk slowly into the room, but it was hard with his friend watching his every movement so carefully. He set the tray down on the table next to their two wands, and their folded robes and nightclothes. That's when it hit him that the only reason he'd had normal clothes was because Dad had gotten a few things for him, but these two hadn't gotten theirs yet; and still they were dressed.

"Let me get you something to eat, Harry," he heard his sister say. She got up and casually, though slowly he also noticed, got two pieces of toast off the tray. Spreading preserves on them, she went back over and gave one to Harry who just held it. She took a bite of hers while looking at Harry, who then slowly started eating his too. The rest of the meal went the same way. Harry only seemed to eat whatever Ginny ate, and only after she ate it first.

"So, uh, how's it going?" Ron asked after a minute of watching them eat. Ron noticed his friend hadn't said anything and looked like he wouldn't be.

"Just dandy," his sister told him. That was a phrase she used at home when things weren't going well with mum. Harry's head twisted suddenly to look at her but he didn't say anything.

"Uh, right, ah, Dad says he needs to go retrieve some things, and wants to know if he should look for anything special." He hoped she'd understand.

"No, just clothes and anything else obvious like my books. Like you, I only brought the essentials." Ginny was now very glad they'd each only brought the bare minimums and left their trunks back at school. Their brooms were considered essential because you never knew when you could get a game of Quidditch in; Ginny was very glad for having her Firebolt now.

"OK. By the way, where did you get your clothes? Dad only just got me some this morning." Ron had been dying to ask that for the last couple of minutes.

"Oh," Ginny giggled. "Harry called Dobby, and I asked him to go back to school and get them out of our trunks there. You know, it's really convenient having a house-elf who can help you out." Harry had only said two words since they'd gotten up, "Dobby" to call the elf when she'd verbally wished for clothes. He'd also looked at her and one time said "Gin". Nobody called her "Gin", she didn't allow it. Yet, there was something about Harry that she let him get away with it. It seemed to her that was all he could say, like he couldn't get the second syllable out.

"Why didn't you get some for me?" Ron's voice had gone up in volume as he felt left out.

"Sorry Ron, we just forgot." Ginny's hand briefly came up in front of her mouth as she looked at him. He thought she was yawning before she scowled and he finally got the message to be quieter.

"So, anything else I need to know?" Ron watched them finish off breakfast. Like usual, Harry hadn't eaten much, but he had eaten. Something about that reminded Ron of their conversation this last summer when Harry had said, _"You don't want to be like me, because you'd get my problems too."_ Ron wasn't sure those two things were connected, but looking at his friend, he was suddenly happy to be Ron.

"No," Ginny answered him knowing he was asking for others. "Here," she gave him back the tray that was mostly empty of food. "Thanks Ron, it was nice of you to bring that up here." He took the tray from her but didn't leave yet. "Harry?" Ginny asked. "Do you want Ron to bring lunch up and eat with us later?"

Harry didn't say anything but only looked at her. She could feel his emotions still shifting within him. Very slowly, they were becoming more ordered, but he was still far from normal. Finally she felt something like peace about her question. "He thinks that would be fine," she told her brother. Turning back to her boyfriend, "Would you like anyone else to join us for lunch Harry? Maybe Tonks or Remus?" He looked down and still said nothing. She felt a closed distant feeling from him. Looking back to Ron she told him, "No, just the three of us when you bring lunch."

Ron didn't know how she did it, but he felt more right in his assessment. No one knew Harry like his sister did if she could communicate with him like that. "OK, see you later." He slowly walked out as normally as he could. He wanted to see Hermione so badly, but he was also glad he wasn't like Harry was right now as he wasn't sure Hermione could deal with him in that state. It was with a heavy heart he returned to the kitchen.

* * *

Ron was grilled about his short visit upstairs. He wasn't sure if his mum or Tonks was more disappointed at Harry's state when he described his friend's actions, but Remus was glad he was up and at least attentive. Ron was sorry he had to tell Tonks that Harry didn't want her to join him for lunch, but Tonks seemed to handle that just fine.

Everyone was most amazed when he said they already had clothes and were dressed. When he said Ginny told him Dobby had helped, that got Dumbledore questioning him about how often Dobby had been helping Harry. Ron could honestly say he'd only seen it once, and that was when it was pre-arranged for Dobby to bring them dinner on their date. Tonks seemed very thoughtful about that too but didn't say anything. Ron again wondered what he'd missed when his dad stood up from the table.

"Alright, everyone who's going back to The Burrow, grab a box or trunk and your cloak. You too Ron, we need your help." Ron was glad he didn't have to argue to go. "Son, it's going to be a bit of a shock for you so I want you to prepare yourself. The Burrow is still standing, but it's been heavily damaged. We're going to grab everything we can salvage and bring it all back here for a while. You're in charge of searching your room for anything of Harry's, alright?"

Ron agreed. Ten minutes later, he Side-Along-Apparated with his dad and saw The Burrow. Even his dad's warning didn't really prepare him for the sight. It was going to be a grim day.

Nearly three hours later, there was a small stack of boxes and trunks. Bill and Charlie Apparated back to Grimmauld Place and stood by the front door as Mad-Eye Portkeyed the stack of boxes back to the porch of headquarters for the boys to get off the front porch and stack in the house.

They'd retrieved all the clothes and personal items from the bedrooms. The Christmas tree had been pushed over, but all the ornaments were still there and not broken, so they were brought along. Most of the downstairs furniture was ruined, as was most everything in the kitchen.

It had taken nearly the entire morning, but Molly finally found her family clock. It was buried in the rubble but still in working order. She'd started crying and all but collapsed when she found the heirloom. Arthur assumed it was from joy at finding it, until he came over to her and she indicated Harry's hand, which pointed to "Lost" like Percy's. Arthur did his best to tell his wife that Harry wasn't lost in the same way, but he wasn't sure she heard him. So he let her cry for awhile.

— — —

Back at Grimmauld Place, Molly hung her clock on the kitchen wall and prepared lunch for everyone. Ron took lunch for the three of them up to Harry's room, as he thought of it now. Harry was slightly better in that he would now answer yes or no to questions, but he still watched everything very carefully.

This time, when Ginny asked Harry about Tonks and Remus joining them for dinner in this room, Harry took a long time to think before he finally nodded his head yes. His verbal answers had stopped a few minutes earlier Ron had noticed, as if his friend had become too tired to talk. He had also observed that Harry had held Ginny's hand the entire time Ron had been there, not ever letting go even while they'd eaten. Then Harry really surprised him.

Harry and Ginny were still sitting on the edge of the bed, and he was still holding Ginny's hand in his. Harry moved over and crawled fully onto the bed and said "Gin" as he pulled her over to him where he'd laid down. There he held her close and closed his eyes for a nap. To Ron it looked like a very little boy who wanted his favorite stuffed animal for naptime. He would have given his best mate a really hard time, both in jest and in concern for doing that with his sister in front of him; but to see his best friend who was capable of taking on Death Eaters and Dark Lords reduced to this was so sad. Ginny didn't say a word, though she did make a hand motion for Ron to take the tray of dishes and go.

Walking back down the stairs, Ron desperately wanted his friend to get better, and his girlfriend for someone to talk to. He also considered what his sister was doing for Harry to make him better. No one had really ever explained what true love was to him, but he thought that was it. That thought made him wonder if he really had true love in him to give to someone.

In the kitchen, he abbreviated his report a bit. Tonks was happy that Harry was now talking to him and wanted them for dinner. His mum just looked at her clock and saw that Harry was still "Lost". He had mentioned that Harry was napping, but said nothing more. Afraid his mum would find some chore for him when he really wanted to be alone to think, Ron quietly went to the library.

— — —

When dinnertime came, Ron, Remus, and Tonks carrying trays of food and drink went upstairs. They also had a lighter heart because Molly had noticed that her clock said Harry was no longer Lost, but was now In Transit. Ron thought that was loony and that the clock had been damaged along with the house. Still, he was hopeful along with his mum and Tonks.

Upstairs, Harry did indeed seem better. He still watched everything and let go of Ginny's hand this time while he ate, but he quickly grabbed it again when he was done. He was also speaking in short sentences. Ron was happy to see the progress in his friend and wondered for the first time how that clock really worked.

Towards the end, Tonks calmly asked Ginny how she was doing. Ginny's answer sounded light and airy, which didn't quite match her words. "Great, though a scenery change would be good. My trips to the loo have to be a wee bit faster than I'd like, but still, everything is getting better."

Tonks thought that was overly stoic of the girl. Sifting through the words, she came to a conclusion. "Harry?" He looked at his Godmother, "if you could go anywhere you want, where would you like to go?"

Without a pause "Home" came out of his mouth. Tonks didn't know what to think of that. She assumed he meant The Burrow and not Privett Drive, but that didn't make sense, as The Burrow was where all this mess had started. She looked to Ginny who gave her a one-shoulder shrug.

"Are you saying you want to go back to The Burrow, Harry?" Tonks watched him for a minute as he sat on the floor with everyone else.

When he finally answered after a long pause, "Home" was all he said again. Then it was all Tonks could do not to make any reaction at all. With his one word answer, he reached forward and grabbed Ginny around the waist, his strong arms pulled her the short distance to him, and he buried his face in her hair. "Home" they heard him croon in a satisfied whisper. Ginny smiled and did her best to get comfortable knowing she'd be there for awhile. Making a hand motion at them, she waved to them to go. The three visitors left amazed at Harry's action. Ron still wasn't sure what to make of it all, but he wished he had Hermione here to hold and talk to. He also wondered if she would be able to explain it all.

Downstairs, Tonks didn't immediately go back to the kitchen but instead went to the library. Her expression was clear to Ron he was to come too. She'd barely closed the doors before she asked, "Ron, did he do anything like that earlier today?"

Ron felt stuck. He wanted to answer because he thought it would help his friend, but he didn't want to betray any confidence either. Apparently he'd taken too long to think.

"What did he do, Ron? You can tell me, I won't tell anyone else."

He felt like he was being interrogated, but she was an Auror he considered. "He, uh... Well, as soon as lunch was over, he, he pulled Ginny to the bed for a nap and curled around her like she was his Teddy Bear." Tonks looked at Remus and sighed.

"He's regressed into something like a childhood," the werewolf stated.

She nodded her agreement. "We've got to get him out of here. I'd do it right now but I don't know where it's safe to take him. I don't even trust my flat now."

"Hogwarts is really the only safe place to go," Lupin said.

"I agree, but he can't be exposed to anyone else there until he's completely back to himself again and that might take a week or more." Tonks started pacing. "And what's Home to him? I don't know where to even begin with that one."

Ron was forgotten by the adults, but he thought he knew at least part of the answer. "The Room of Requirement at Hogwarts." They looked at him puzzled. "It can become any place at all, like a copy of the inside of The Burrow, even changing if it needs too. You can also make it only open to us."

"Brilliant Ron!" Tonks' smile matched her exclamation causing Ron to flush with pride.

"Yeah, but what kind of place do we create for him? What constitutes home for him, The Burrow?" Remus was still struggling with the image of his star pupil acting like a little child.

There was silence for a few moments. "I'm not so sure Home is a place for him right now," Ron struggled with his thoughts, mostly thinking out loud. "There's something about Harry's actions after lunch and after dinner that seem connected."

"What do you mean, Ron?" He felt flattered Tonks thought he had the answer.

"When Ginny was little, as long as she had her favorite stuffed animal, she was happy no matter what else was happening. Harry seems like that. It's like ... Ginny is his security blanket." Or at least that was Ron's gut feeling.

"Hmm," Remus started thinking out loud too. "Did you notice that when you asked him where he wanted to go and he said home, he grabbed for Ginny and didn't let her go?"

Tonks picked up on that. "And after he was holding her, he said home again in a way as if he had reached it."

"Yes," Lupin agreed. "We still need a place, but as long as Ginny is there, we can probably pick almost anywhere we want."

"He didn't seem to flinch when I asked him about The Burrow, so I think that will be the place. We'll just say it's been repaired, he doesn't know the extent of the damage." Tonks thought some more. "OK, here's the plan. First, Ron, not a word of this to your parents. Sorry, but it needs to be that way."

"No problem," the youth said.

"Didn't think it would be," she said and grinned at him. "Remus, you have second floor guard duty for the night. I don't think Molly would go up there tonight, but now that we have a clue as to what's going on in his head, we can't risk her pulling Ginny away."

"I agree."

"I hope she can hang in there until he's back to normal. I've got a Headmaster to go see." Now she looked at Ron, "When I get back," then she paused for a second, "scratch that! You're coming with me so I don't have to come back for you later. You and I have a home to recreate. Off you go Remus. Come on Ron, let's go tell your parents about them going back to school for a few days." Ron thought that was pretty funny.

* * *

Ginny woke early. It would be getting light soon she realized when she looked at her watch with her wand. Again she'd "slept" with her boyfriend. It was slightly amusing even with the gravity of the situation. Feeling for Harry's emotions, it seemed he was asleep; so she carefully crawled out from under his arm and the quilt. She was fully dressed, not that that would have calmed her mother any.

Digging for a new change of clothes, she quietly headed for the bathroom. Once the warm water was running over her, she felt a lot better. Of course, being able to do what she wanted for the first time in about two days felt really good too. She loved Harry, but she needed some alone time too. While she knew that was true, a part of her felt guilty about that feeling. Look at what he'd done: he'd saved herself, two of her brothers, and both of her parents from who knows what at the hands of Death Eaters. In the process of protecting them, he also came up with the plan that got them all safely out. She knew The Burrow had to have sustained major damage if it hadn't been destroyed completely, but they'd all lived. Also, Harry was really fine, he was just having a problem dealing with something. As soon as that was dealt with, he'd be Harry again.

She started washing her long hair. It was a pain, but she thought it looked good on her. More importantly, Harry liked it that way, and she liked him running his fingers through it. Rinsing her hair gave her perspective. The problems were like the shampoo, they would eventually wash away given time and some help. She could do this; he was continually getting better, even hourly it seemed.

When she finished getting dressed, she opened the door to head back to the room and realized she wasn't alone in the dark hallway. Searching for him, she almost panicked when she couldn't point to him. But that could only mean one thing. "Harry, is that you?"

"I missed you, Gin," his voice came to her. She realized he was sitting against the wall next to the door in the dark. He was maybe two feet away at the most.

"Are you alright Harry?"

"I'm fine. I just missed you." She would have sworn he was deeply asleep when she'd gotten up.

"Well, I'm done now. Are you ready for your shower?" She didn't get an answer. Feeling for him, she felt many mixed emotions, but the strongest one seemed to be fear, fear of being alone she assumed. "I'll wait here by the door for you, Harry, just like you waited for me. Would that help you be all right?" She felt his fear decrease and his emotions stabilize. "Let's go get your clothes, Harry, I'll stay near."

Going back to the room, she dropped her stuff off and helped him get his. Going back to the bathroom, she started to close the door but he told her no. Not sure what to do, she sat on the floor on the other side of the doorway than he had, as it prevented viewing in. That seemed a good compromise. It was a good thing she had six brothers she thought. She would bet Hermione would be freaking out in this situation. She also wondered what her mum would say if she found her like this. That got her to giggling at the row that would cause.

"What?" came Harry's voice from over the sound of the water.

Just as Ginny was about to answer, Tonks' head became visible in the dim light from the floor below as the woman came up the stairs. It was too much for Ginny, who started laughing. Tonks saw her and gave her a strange look for laughing, but Ginny put her finger up to her lips to keep the woman quiet.

"What's so funny?" Harry's voice asked again.

"I was thinking about what it would be like if someone came up here and saw me sitting out here while you were in there obviously taking a shower." Tonks' eyes got big at that then a big smile seemed to play across her face. Ginny waved good-bye to her then held up her hand showing the number five. Tonks nodded and quietly went back down.

The water went off a few minutes later. Ginny was tempted to look in but resisted. Harry came out a few minutes after that fully dressed.

"Feel better now?" she asked him.

"I think so," he said as he walked back to the room with her.

They'd barely gotten there when a tired looking Tonks arrived with breakfast. "Wotcher Tonks."

A surprised Tonks returned the greeting, "Wotcher Harry." He sounded normal. "Ready for breakfast?" She received two yeses. As they ate, she carefully watched Harry. "So Harry, ready to leave and go back to The Burrow?" That got Ginny's attention too.

"Sure, sounds good," he told her around a mouthful of eggs and a bite of toast.

"Alright then, let me go tell everyone to finish packing their clothes and we can go in about half an hour or so. You pack yours too." Tonks watched him drain his juice then lean back. He was sitting very close to Ginny she noticed, and as soon as he'd finished eating, he was holding her hand again. Better, but still not normal she thought.

It was almost an hour before Arthur, Molly, Ron, and Tonks came up. Most of the delay had come from a talk between Albus, Arthur, and Molly, though Tonks had added a point or two. Based on Tonks's reports, Albus had told Molly that Harry was making excellent progress in his rehabilitation and that was due to Ginny controlling the situation. He then stressed to Molly that in order for the progress to continue, Ginny was going to need to keep doing this; so Molly was not to interfere no matter what her motherly instincts told her - though Albus promised her no one would tell Ginny that so she couldn't take advantage of the situation.

Molly was concerned that if this was allowed, they might go off and get too involved with one another and then she'd be a grandmother before she should be. Albus told her not to worry about it. He'd installed an "Amorous Monitor" some time back in the Room of Requirement and it was still working. His smile then threatened to take over his face as he told her he was glad she had reminded him of this, because she and Arthur needed to be careful while there, as the monitor didn't distinguish between students and married couples.

Ginny's mum still didn't like the situation. When threatened with "it needs to be this way or you can't go", she eventually promised she'd let Ginny handle Harry's therapy. Tonks decided she'd try to hang around "The Burrow" a bit more for the next few days.

Finally, the five of them Portkeyed away, and Harry found himself back in the Weasley home, though it was now a bit different in a few places. Tonks told him a lot of different people had been helping to repair it so it wasn't quite the same. In fact, he, Ron, and Ginny would be sharing Ron's room while Arthur and Molly would be in Ginny's room since the stairs to the third floor were so damaged. Charlie had moved in with Bill, which was the truth. The teens took their small bags up to their room and noticed the various spots of damage that had yet to be fixed. Harry felt bad thinking he was to blame for this, but he didn't say anything. Ginny felt his guilt but didn't say anything to him either; now was not the time.

Ron was about to announce he was going to take a nap when Tonks came up the stairs and asked him to stay with Harry for a few moments. Ginny's mum needed her for a minute. Harry looked like he wanted to deny that but didn't say anything. Ginny gave him a hug and promised him she'd be back in a minute or two. Ron tried his best to keep Harry occupied by asking him about the Quidditch team practices starting again soon and the upcoming games.

Down in the kitchen, the three women circled. "How are you holding up?" Ginny's mother asked her.

"Reasonably well, though it will be nice to be normal again."

"I'm sorry you're having to bear the brunt of this," Harry's Godmother told her, "but you really are the best choice to help him."

"I know, and I'll do it too. I owe him so much for saving my family."

"Can you keep this up until he's better? Think carefully about this before you answer," Tonks cautioned her. "I'm hoping it's only a few days, but it could be longer and nothing is more important than him getting well - not even school. That can be made up."

"I know, and he is getting better. Or at least he's getting better emotional control. I'm really worried about him not dealing with the underlying problem though. I don't want this to happen again." A repeat of all this was Ginny's biggest worry.

"What do you think the real problem is then?"

"I wish I knew. It's whatever caused his anger the other night." Here she had to be careful not to give their bond away. "If I had to guess, I'd say he's buried the problem again, but I can't really tell." In reality she knew that's what he'd done. She wished she knew how to help him. "I can deal with this though. It's getting a lot easier now that he appears almost normal; so yeah, I can hang on."

"Great," Tonks told her. "This is your number one priority. Try to be normal yet help him."

"Right, I can do that." She felt his worry starting to increase. "I better go; he still doesn't like me to leave him for too long."

"Just so you know Ginny, we're really at Hogwarts as this is the safest place we can be for now," Tonks told her.

"This is the Room of Requirement then." Ginny said it as a statement, not a question.

Tonks was surprised at the girl's ability to deduce that. "Yes it is." Ginny just nodded and left to go back upstairs.

Harry was visibly relieved to see her when she arrived. Ron laid down for his nap, so she took her boyfriend back down to the living room to play some chess. Tonks had left for her nap too.

After lunch, Ron joined them again and they played games all afternoon until Ginny got tired. Harry told her to take a nap, he'd read his book some more. Ginny was amazed at the progress in him, but found she couldn't really leave. Harry's idea was for her to lay on the couch with her head on his lap. It wasn't quite what she'd had in mind, but still it was progress. She also had to admit that him playing with her hair and caressing her head had put her to sleep in a better mood.

Dinner time came and Mr. Weasley Flooed in via Dumbledore's office though Harry didn't know that. The evening was spent with everyone in the living room. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were reading the paper and discussing it. Ron and Ginny were working on homework to be done over the holiday. Harry sat or lay near Ginny and caressed or touched her in some way the entire time while he read the last part of his thick Spell Theory book.

Ginny watched her parents go to bed fairly early and it was her Dad who told them not to stay up too late. She was astounded her Mum said nothing, though the set of her lips seem to indicate she wanted to. As it neared midnight, Ron left as well. She and Harry were on the couch again like last summer. Each was sitting on opposite ends facing the middle, though this time their feet were extended towards the other almost touching where the other sat.

Finishing her essay for Charms, she noticed Harry was rubbing her stocking feet. She further noticed he'd put his book down and was concentrating on her. Blowing the ink dry before she rolled her parchment up, she felt for him and found him there in her. She almost dropped her parchment when she found every emotion coming from him was completely in control, just like before Christmas, but his inability to not touch belied his complete recovery. "Finished with your book Harry?"

"Yes, took me long enough. It was a difficult read, but I'm glad I did."

"Why? I didn't think you were into that."

"I might create spells someday, but reading it has really given me understanding on the spells I use. It sort of allows me to think in the spell instead of just thinking about the spell, if that makes sense." He was struggling with the explanation.

"Yeah, it does; sounds a bit like leaning a foreign language," she told him as she put her homework into her book bag.

"Don't tell Hermione," he gave her a conspiratorial look, "but this book is largely responsible for my better grades."

She gave him a soft laugh. "Our secret then, though maybe I should read it. Did it teach you anything else?"

"Yes," he went slowly sad on her. "It taught me to look at details, there is a natural order and that things must be consistent."

"Why does that make you sad Harry?" for she could feel the sadness coming out in waves from him.

"Because I see inconsistency all around me. Why Gin?" She didn't understand the question and he picked up on her questioning feeling. "Why are we in a place like The Burrow that's not really The Burrow?"

Her breath caught in her throat. She couldn't believe he'd figured it out already. Part of her wanted to lie to him, to continue the illusion; but she knew she couldn't do that, literally could not lie to him. It was something they'd figured out shortly after their bond had appeared. Lies were very easy to spot emotionally and could not be hid from the other. "How did you know?" She needed time to figure this out.

He shrugged, "A number of little things." Her expression told him to name them. "The fireplace is the wrong size. The wallpaper pattern is close but wrong. The doorway is slightly too far left. This couch is too long. There are clues in every room, for example your Mum's clock is missing, and Ron's room is too big. The views out the window don't show the correct scenery. But the biggest clue is the one on my wrist, your special hand on my wristwatch is pointing to School. We're in the Room of Requirement, aren't we?"

While Harry didn't apply himself to every problem that crossed his path, Ginny thought he was as sharp as Hermione on the ones he did. He'd studied The Burrow in far more detail than she'd ever considered. She suspected that he thought of his childhood as growing up in a house, but The Burrow was Home. What could she say but, "Yes we are Harry, or so I was told this morning."

"Why?"

The question was back. "You know you haven't been feeling well, right?"

She could feel him questioning and searching, then he nodded. "Yes, there is a gap in my mind. The last couple of days seem misplaced, like they should be there but I can't quite recall them."

"What do you remember before then?"

"Christmas, when you gave me this great watch. That night we went to bed and I started playing with it when your hand jumped to Mortal Peril." She gasped. She almost hadn't spent the money on that feature, yet it had alerted him then, as well as shown him the way tonight. "I heard a noise downstairs and went to investigate. Someone was coming up the stairs and I sent a Concussion spell down at them."

This was how it all started she realized. Again fate had put Harry Potter in the right place at the right time to save those around him. He told of the fight, the flight, then finally the Apparation back. "I remember seeing Grimmauld Place, Sirius's house." From out of nowhere, anger filled him then emotional shields started closing him off to her.

"No!" she'd almost shouted, but her commanding tone got his attention. She lunged forward and grabbed his hands in hers squeezing them so tightly his fingertips turned a dark red. "Don't shut me out Harry, talk to me." She felt him wavering inside. He needed to talk to her, they were close to the real problem she thought. "Talk to me Harry, what were you feeling when we got there? I can help you but you gotta tell me." He looked at her as if pleading her not to do this, but his feelings were slowly changing and becoming more open again. Gently she told him, "You can tell _me_, Harry. You know _I_ love you and only want to help you. You can trust _me,_ Harry."

Then just like two nights ago, she felt his emotional control crumble and he started crying again; but this time, Harry was still there. "Why did he leave me? I needed him. What did I do to drive him away?"

Ginny was at a loss. _He who?_ she thought, then it hit her. It was the house that had triggered it, Sirius's house was the straw that broke the camel's back. He felt Sirius had left him. Now she realized he still hadn't really dealt with his Godfather's death. He must have only buried it and it had been eating at him. What did she say to him? "You didn't do anything wrong, and he didn't want to leave you. It just happened."

Harry crawled over to her and did his best to curl up in her lap as he continued to cry for the next half hour or so. She kept up the comforting words as she held him tightly and stroked his messy black hair. The anger within him slowly abated, and by the time he'd stopped crying and asking "Why me?" he was asleep. Ginny didn't know what had gone on in his mind, but he seemed better emotionally, almost more real. He also was in a very fragile state right now.

It was amusing in an academic sort of way. He was now the complete opposite of a few hours ago. Then he was strong but emotionally fake. Now he was fragile but emotionally real. She decided she preferred now. It was something they could work on and then fully recover to normal. Content with his mental state for the first time in two days, she leaned against the back of the couch and fell asleep still holding Harry against her.

* * *

.


	18. Planning

Version: 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

**Chapter 18: Planning**

Ginny had fallen asleep in a good mood, but she was waking up in a bad one. The reason was that her mum was shaking her awake.

As she opened her eyes, she remembered she'd fallen asleep with Harry on the couch. Having "slept" with him for the two previous nights, she hadn't thought anything about it last night. Now she didn't have Tonks to protect her.

"Ginevra Molly Weasley!" her mum hissed.

"Sssh," Ginny pointed at Harry as she tried to stop her mum from waking him. She didn't know what state Harry would be in when he woke up and she wanted to know that before anything else happened. They'd made so much progress last night.

"I don't care, you can't do this." Her voice was rising and was close to normal volume.

It was too much, Ginny could feel Harry coming out of his sleep quickly. "Sssh," she whispered to her mum again. "Leave us alone for at least a little bit while I get things sorted out here."

"I will not leave you alone with him lying there like that." Molly was nearly screeching as she looked at Harry with his head lying on her daughter's chest and his arms wrapped around her.

Harry crawled the rest of the way out of unconsciousness and thought through what he'd heard as he took in the fact that he was lying partially on Ginny, on the couch in the living room of The Burrow, and in front of her mum no less. Not knowing what else to do, he jumped up and muttered "Sorry" as he bolted from the room. Ginny felt a huge wave of embarrassment from him. Because of that, she couldn't accurately gauge anything else about him.

Now she was very angry at her mum again; if her mum wanted a row, she was going to get one. Jumping up, she stood her full height, which she noticed allowed her to look her mum directly in the eyes. "Do you trust me or not?" Ginny's voice was a calm almost icy fury.

"Of course I do." Her mum wasn't much better in controlling her temper.

"Then why the bloody hell don't you act like it, Mum? All I needed was for you to go away for fifteen minutes, just fifteen bloody minutes, so I could figure out where Harry is today, but you couldn't let that happen could you? No, you couldn't." Molly was beyond shocked at her daughter's choice of words. "Now you've run him off and he's in such a state that I can't tell what he's feeling. Do you realize you may have just ruined three solid days of hard work? Yes, I may have to start completely over in trying to rebuild Harry thanks to you. If you've thrown away all my hard work just because you can't figure out that I'm not a little girl anymore, I'll help you avoid this problem again by not coming home for a long time." With that off her chest, Ginny stormed out of the living room leaving a stunned mother behind who slowly sank down onto the couch and started crying.

Ginny was livid. She'd forgotten how many times she'd had a row with her mum over this issue over the past several years. If it was up to her, this was the last time. Percy's image suddenly swam into her mind and she wondered if she was going to be like him. She thought not, but she could understand him a little better at this moment. She wished her Dad was here, but he'd obviously already gone to work.

Arriving in the upstairs bedroom, she found Harry packing his bag and Ron lying in bed staring at his friend. "You leaving?" she asked him. Harry nodded as he grabbed the last of his things from under the bed. She agreed with that sentiment. "Give me about two minutes and I'll be ready to join you."

"Damn, I left my book downstairs," Harry complained.

"That's OK, I left my book bag and homework there too, but that can be fixed," she told him. "While I finish, why don't you step out onto the landing and summon them." Harry smiled at her and wand in hand he walked out of the room. Looking to her brother who was still imitating a fish, she asked, "Are you going to stay here or come with us?"

"What are you doing?"

"Mum has really messed up this time and I'm not staying here any longer since I don't have to. So if you want to stay here then that's fine with us; if you don't and want to come, I suggest you get up off your lazy arse and pack."

Ron decided he didn't want to be around their mum after Ginny had described the situation, and the yelling had been plainly heard all the way up in the bedroom. He also thought she wasn't going to wait on him either, so he threw some clothes on over his pyjamas, figuring he could change later. Harry walked back in with her book bag and his book.

"Thanks, Harry," she told him.

"He's coming too?" Harry pointed at Ron.

"Oh yeah," Ron replied. "I don't fancy being around Mum after she's had a major row with Ginny. Say, how are we going to get out of here?"

"Really Ron, don't be so dense. We're in a magical room made to change."

Ron tried to explain to his sister. "But we told the room not to change once it was set up."

"And who did that?"

"Professor Dumbledore and me."

"Then why don't _you _try asking the room for a secret passage to the door to the outside world since you give it the original order." Harry thought she sounded like she was having to explain something to a particularly dense little child.

"Oh … right." Ron stood there for a moment thinking hard. Suddenly the window in the room turned into a door.

Ginny went to it and opened it up to see a dark stairway heading down. "_Lumos,"_ somebody said from behind her, and she saw a bright light on the tip of Harry's wand. She smiled at him and started walking down the stairs with the two boys behind her.

* * *

Molly had been sitting in the kitchen staring at the stairs for the last hour waiting for her daughter to come down. She couldn't decide what tactic to take, but she was going to make an effort to apologize for disturbing Harry.

Instead of a child coming down the stairs, the next person she saw was Albus Dumbledore coming out of the kitchen fireplace. "Hello Albus." Her voice was not her usual joyful self.

"Hello, Molly." His was not much better. Taking a chair at the table with her, he conjured up a pot of tea and two cups. "If you're waiting for someone to come down the stairs, you're going to be very disappointed."

"Why's that?" She looked at him in alarm while he calmly poured two cups of tea.

"Because no one is up there." He pushed a saucer and a cup of tea towards her then took a sip of his.

"How could they get out without coming past me to the Floo or the door? Where are they?"

The Headmaster put his tea back down. "Molly, you're in a highly magical room. Those particular students probably know more about this room and how to do things to it than anyone else in this castle except for me. As to where they are, I'm not totally sure, but they did mention Exploding Snap so that does limit the places I'd have to look if I wanted to find them."

"They came to talk to you then?"

"Not really. It was more like they ran into me and we had a little chat, and that's what I need to have with you."

"Excuse me?" Molly couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Molly, how old is Ginny?"

"She's fifteen, but you already knew that."

"Yes I did," the man acknowledged. "In terms of physical age, that is correct. How old do you think she is mentally? Where is she knowledge and action-wise?"

Molly couldn't see where this was going. "I don't know, about the same probably."

"Yes, and that is the problem. You see her as a fifteen year old girl in every way." Albus really thought Molly wasn't being quite truthful with herself, but it didn't matter for what he was about to say. "If you think back to what I told you at headquarters the other morning, I hope you recall that I mentioned Ginny is a powerful witch." Molly nodded. "Good. Part of the reason she is a powerful witch is she is mentally far beyond her fifteen years. She has the knowledge and insight of someone who is at least your age, Molly."

"No!" The denial was instant.

"I'm afraid you are letting your expectations and dreams color your perception of reality, Molly. Physically she is still a teenager, but that is about the only way she is a teenager. And by the way, everything I say about her applies to Harry too. He is also mentally much older than his physical age."

"But how can that be, Albus? I just can't believe what you're telling me."

"The reasons are complex and I'm not sure even I know them all, but the basic explanation is quite simple. They have not led normal lives. Both of them have been forced by fate, or whatever you want to call it, to grow up long before they should have. It has been most unkind for them not to have a complete childhood, but they have both been living as adults since they were eleven. They both have seen and done things many your age have not."

"But surely I would have seen this if it was so."

"You have seen Molly, but you didn't want to see it for what it really was. Look at what your daughter has done these past three days. She has taken a very broken young man and, with strength of character and the power of love, has mostly restored him. In a very short time, I believe Harry will be better than before because of her. I doubt the best mind healer in all of England could have done the same. And Christmas night, who really protected your family and lead them to safety? Whose plan and whose wand lead the way? It was Harry and not your husband, was it not?"

Molly hung her head and didn't say a word.

"I'm more familiar with Harry because I've watched him very closely over the years, but Ginny has also shown herself to be a special person by her deeds as well. Just as I have no doubt that Harry will be Head Boy next year, I have no doubt Ginny will be Head Girl the year after."

"Bill was Head Boy too." Molly's voice was very soft and fading with her arguments.

"These two are significantly beyond Bill while he was here. By the time they are Bill's age, they will rival my reputation, probably even before then. Molly, you need to change your thinking."

The woman said nothing.

"I don't know what Ginny told you, but you haven't lost her yet. You can still mend the rift, but to do that, you're going to have to treat her like she sees herself, which is basically an adult. Try treating her like you treat Bill; you'll get far better results. Now, why don't you pack your things and you can use the Floo in my office to go back to headquarters. I'll contact Arthur and let him know to meet you there when he gets off work. Give Ginny some time and she can be a daughter to you again, an adult daughter." Albus saw her nod slightly in agreement, so he got up and left.

Molly wasn't aware of how long she sat there, but eventually she did as he suggested. She wanted to talk to Arthur. He always seemed to know what to say in tough times.

* * *

When the three had returned to the Gryffindor common room, they found Professor Dumbledore talking to Hermione. The greetings had been hearty and warm, especially Ron's. The Headmaster inquired as to why they were here instead of where they should be. He'd started filling Hermione in but hadn't had time to finish. He had planned to take Ms. Granger to the "fake Burrow" to help.

Ginny explained the problem, only slightly raising her voice once. Dumbledore talked to Harry for a few moments and found him to sound fairly normal, though he could not help but still see concern in Ginny's eyes. His last comment was a very tired, "I see I need to have another chat" and then he left them.

Harry and Ginny sat at the head of Harry's bed in his dorm room, while Ron and Hermione sat on the other end. The middle was filled with stocking feet. They were trying to catch up with each other, though it was mostly them filling Hermione in on the most recent events.

Ron and Ginny did most of the story telling, Harry sat back and watched Hermione's expressions. It was fun to watch her and try to tell exactly what she was thinking at different points.

As much as Ginny loved Harry, she enjoyed the group being together again, sort of sharing the burden as it were. Her boyfriend was now only playing with her hand instead of constantly holding it, which she viewed as progress. This time also gave her the chance to gauge Harry's feelings. She liked what she felt; Harry was getting better in a real way, she thought. While she was still quite upset at her mum, she was glad not to have to carry out the threat she'd made in anger. Nearing the end of the story, she felt a change in Harry. Something like a resolve came over him.

Harry continued watching Hermione and near the end of the story, he could tell she had about million questions, the only problem being which one to ask first. As Ron finished about their escape from the fake Burrow, he decided to save her the trouble. There was something he had to do.

All conversation stopped when Harry pulled out his wand and he threw an _Imperturbable_ charm around them just to be safe.

"Hermione, Ron, what have you been studying in your independent study classes? I know you've told me a few things, but I'm looking for an overview. We have plans to make," Harry told them. He didn't think it was possible for Hermione's eyes to grow bigger after some of the faces he'd watched her make, but he was wrong. Inwardly, he mused over how she would look when he dropped some more things on her.

"Well Harry, in staying with the theme of my History NEWT, I've been taking a very close look at the wars, both current and the first one with You-Know-Who." She was about to go on but Harry interrupted her.

"Hermione, and Ron this goes for you too, please say his name. These pseudo-names only exaggerate his power and make him sound more special than he is. If you can't bring yourself to say Voldemort, then call him Tom Riddle. That was his birth name." Harry was very serious.

"All right, I'll try." The brown haired girl tried again. "So I've been studying the wars lead by - Tom," Harry gave her a small encouraging smile, "they have a wide spread effect throughout both the Wizarding and Muggle world."

"Found anything that will help us defeat him?"

"No, not directly. But Harry, before you can solve a problem, you must understand the context or you'll misunderstand not only the question, but you'll probably miss the answer."

She sounded very logical. "Makes sense, so with that background to help you, here's your new research project, Hermione. I want you to come up with a theory on how he survived the Killing Curse that bounced off of me. Then given that, find a spell, ritual, or whatever that we can use to prevent that from happening again so we can end these wars once and for all."

"That's a lot to do, Harry!"

"Perhaps, but I wouldn't ask you if I didn't think you could do it either." She blushed at Harry's compliment. "And Hermione, you don't have to do all the work by yourself either. Interview the teachers, talk to Dumbledore, Remus used to be our Defense teacher so he should know something useful. If you have smaller research sub-projects others can help with and aren't blocking you from your main work, ask for help from the Order members; Tonks can help you coordinate that."

"Thanks, Harry."

"Ron," he looked at his best mate, "what about you?"

"Very similar Harry, except that I've been focusing on the battles themselves; sort of who did what, when, and where."

"Great. I want you to continue that, but concentrate on what's happened since the Department of Mysteries event. Once you think you have a good feel for that, try projecting that forward to anticipate what they might do. I'm certain there will be patterns. The people you want to bat this around with are Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt. I'm sure Tonks can arrange for him to have a few visits. Oh, and Dumbledore may be working on a similar project so talk to him for facts and information, but I want to know your conclusions not his. Once we have a feel for all this, we can incorporate it into the training sessions you're about to start with me."

"Right."

"What about me, Harry?" Ginny asked.

"Ah," he smiled at her. She felt his playfulness dancing around his resolve. "You have the most important job of all. Keeping me happy!"

"I already know how to do that," she told him. Reaching up with her hand, she turned his face more towards her and gave him a short kiss.

"Ooo, will you two quit that! Or at least go get a room so I don't have to see it," Ron complained.

Harry turned toward him, "We are in my room Ron." Hermione even laughed at that. "We'll continue our training Ginny, both together and individually. I haven't told Dumbledore this yet, but I want to be able to duel him by myself and win."

"And me?" she asked. Harry was again being the leader that she would follow anywhere.

"If you want to try that too, I don't see why not. You will have more time this term with four of your OWLs out of the way. However, I have not forgotten the fact that you do have some more OWLs left this year, so I'll leave those kinds of goals up to you. We have a task in front of us that we must prepare for, so our tandem training will be a priority."

Ginny felt something big was coming before she heard him, she could guess what it was. She saw him look at Hermione and Ron as he asked. "Other than the obvious world domination aspect, do you really want to know what the crux of the war is?"

Hermione gasped. "You know the prophecy don't you?"

Trust her to jump to the right conclusion, Harry thought. "Yes, Professor Dumbledore was able to tell me since he originally heard it. I can tell you if you want to know." The two of them nodded. So Harry told them. He also included the part about the eavesdropper who heard the first half and took it to Voldemort.

"Oh Harry, that brings so many things together." Hermione was thinking fast.

"I'm sure. It did make me see many past events in a new light when I first heard this last June."

"You already knew, didn't you, Ginny?" She was surprised to hear her brother's question.

Harry could guess why Ron asked that. "Yes she did already know. I hadn't planned on telling her when I did, but it just kind of came up and it seemed like the right thing to tell her at the time. I'm sorry I waited so long to tell you two, but it just never seemed like the right time. It's also sort of not a fun topic to think about either - especially the kill or be killed part."

Ron didn't say much but Hermione jumped in. "Of course that wouldn't be fun, but there's hope. We know it can be done." Harry agreed. "Do you know what the _power he knows not_ is?"

"I think so. It's Ginny." His girlfriend was startled, it was their secret. He did his best to project trust to her and she settled a little. "Voldemort doesn't understand what love can cause people to do. With Ginny, I'm motivated to do better than my best. I'm pushed to do more, learn more, be more. Ginny is a power to be reckoned with." He smiled at her and pick up her hand and kissed it. Harry could tell that Ginny knew that he was only telling them certain things that they could comprehend, and was still keeping the real secret hidden. She pulled their joined hands to her and kissed the back of his hand in return.

Harry knew this next part was going to be difficult. "Ginny, I'd like you to do something special for me. I don't want you to be alone when you're out of the Gryffindor Tower."

That got her temper instantly going. "What, you still don't think I can defend myself against someone like Malfoy?!"

"I think in a fair fight, Malfoy wouldn't stand a chance against you, but don't you see? That's the problem. Malfoy won't fight fair," he told her. "He'll shoot a spell out of some hiding spot you don't expect, hex you in the back, or make sure his goons come after you too so it'll be three-on-one odds, which you'd still do well at as long as you aren't taken by surprise. But you need someone to watch your back."

"I still don't need protection from the likes of him," she argued.

"Please, Ginny, for me. Make sure you're with at least one other person or better yet a whole group. I'll talk to Colin and some of the others, I'm sure they'll be happy to be with you between classes when I can't be there."

She suddenly turned sassy. "Hmm, wouldn't that serve you right if he then started dating me."

"Not bloody likely as he knows what Harry would do to him if he tried."

"Ron! Your language," his girlfriend reprimanded him.

"Please, Ginny. You know what would happen if I lost you, don't you?" he argued gently.

They looked into each other's eyes and Harry reached out to her with his feelings. He tried to project love for her, then how crushed he'd be if he lost her, followed by ultimate defeat at Tom Riddle's hands. He felt her love for him, but also her desire for independence. He returned their togetherness, their oneness. She finally nodded and then glanced at their two friends who'd been watching them. Harry smiled. "Yes, I'll do the same for you." They leaned towards one another for a short kiss and then rested their foreheads together so they had to go cross-eyed to see the other.

It took a moment, but Harry eventually realized Ron and Hermione were whispering back and forth. "Anything you'd like to share?" he asked them.

Ron looked at his friend, "Only if you'd like to share," he said calmly.

"What do you mean? We weren't whispering."

"Maybe not," Ron didn't sound like he agreed though. "But this isn't the first time I've seen you two hold almost an entire conversation without saying a thing, and Hermione agrees that it looked like you were communicating without words."

Harry knew the bond was going to get them into trouble one day. He felt mirth from Ginny as she seemed to wait for him to handle it. He searched for a cover up. "Well Ron, a lot can be communicated with body language."

"Body language?" Ron was puzzled.

"Yes, body language. You know by the way she was holding herself, acting, her facial expressions, her eyes ..."

"We know what body language is Harry," said Hermione, "we just don't believe that's enough."

"Sorry," Harry told her casually, "I just pay more attention to the little things about her than either of you do. After all, she is _my_ girlfriend."

Ron seemed to buy it but Hermione still looked very doubtful. Both of them knew they'd have to be much more careful from now on about their communication. Then Harry had an idea. "You know, Hermione," Harry hoped this would get her off track, "that is a great idea. I should teach Ginny Legilimency so we could fully communicate without words."

"Come on Harry, that would only work if she was already an Occlumens."

Harry gave Hermione a blank stare and Ginny could feel his playfulness. "And your point is what, Hermione?"

Hermione gasped. "You've already taught her, haven't you?"

"Right in one. And you know," Harry said, thinking out loud, "I guess this means I need to teach you two Occlumency now that you know the prophecy and will be gathering other privileged information."

Ron seemed all right with it, but Hermione was awed that Harry knew so much. Later that evening, she got a bit vexed with him when she thought about how much she was behind him, until he pointed out how many extra independent study classes he had and she shouldn't pressure herself.

They got hungry after a while, but Harry still didn't feel up to seeing others. So he got them to agree to have dinner in the tower. It was easy enough to do with the help of Dobby, and the fact that no other Gryffindors were there. In fact, there were only eight other students staying in the castle over the holiday.

The evening was spent playing Exploding Snap. Tonks came by for a short while. The story of why they were not in the Room of Requirement got her blood boiling, but Ginny calmed her down when she pointed out that no real harm was done. Tonks was still upset anyway because Molly had promised her. Of course, she was also upset with herself for not coming by sooner and not being available to help Ginny.

Nighttime posed a problem however. Even though Harry felt almost normal, he still didn't want to sleep alone; he wanted his Gin. After much discussion, including the decision from Ron that Harry could not have Ginny sleep with him in their dorm room, the four decided to have a camp out in the common room. They levitated their mattresses and linens downstairs and laid them out in a line side by side. Like Harry and Ginny, Ron and Hermione held hands as they went to sleep. Ginny woke once in the middle of the night and found that Harry was on the edge of his mattress with his arm draped over her. She glowed a bit on the inside and rolled onto her side towards him.

* * *

.


	19. Memories

Version: 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

**Chapter 19: Memories**

A week later everyone was back at school and Harry felt fairly normal again. His problem over the holiday wasn't discussed.

Harry had his talk with Colin and some of the other fifth years, and they not only understood, but enthusiastically agreed to make sure Ginny had company between classes and to watch out for Malfoy. Ginny was not thrilled with this, but she mostly understood Harry's protectiveness and put up with it - at least for now.

Harry's independent study lessons resumed with intensity. Dumbledore had bought a new small Pensieve for the students to use, so he could have his own back. The new plan was by the end of the first week of March, Harry would finish all classes via Pensieve lessons for Defense, Charms, and Transfiguration, and take the NEWTs for those three courses. He still had the practical portions so he still went to class. The teachers for those classes were also made aware of the situation, and Harry received different and extra assignments than the other students. He would also take the History NEWT this year.

An event that greatly amused Harry was when Hermione asked to see his essay for Charms one day to compare with hers. Harry didn't think anything about it and handed his over to her. She almost flew into a panic when she saw his was totally different, and beyond NEWT level. "Remember my ultimate task" was all he said to her and she calmed down. It had been hard to hold his grin in.

Before Professor Cobb could start teaching what he had planned in Harry's one-on-one class with him, Harry asked about wandless magic.

"Mr. Potter, you remember that one lesson we had on soundless magic? The one you could barely do anything with when you left here?" Harry nodded. "That was a cakewalk compared to wandless magic, it's at least ten times harder."

At that, Harry picked up his wand and locked the door so they'd have privacy, Summoned his book bag and dug out his notebook and a pen, which he preferred for these kind of notes, and then Banished his bag back to the other desk - all soundlessly. "I understand Professor, but I could see where it might be useful to me."

Cobb stared at him then laughed gruffly. "Very good Potter. I suppose one lesson wouldn't hurt then. I can't do more than a few simple spells wandlessly – and barely get them to work even so – but the theory's not that hard. I guess we'll find out how well you pick it up." By the end of the lesson, Harry felt he understood the theory, but could make nothing happen. However, Cobb wasn't surprised and only told him "Practice makes perfect."

Professor Cobb was very open about discussing anything Harry asked him about, but he never spent more than one lesson on the topics he hadn't planned. Though when Harry thought about it, the professor rarely spent more than one lesson on the things he did plan. He seemed to expect Harry to pick things up quickly, and if Harry didn't, then it was Harry's job to do it on his own time.

By the end of January, Harry was a very busy person again, as was Ginny. Ginny had picked up the basics of Legilimency well enough they were able to share memories and basic thoughts. That gave the phrase "I'll give you a piece of my mind" a whole new meaning to the couple. Besides using the skills for having private conversations, they also found it extremely useful to teach spells to one another. Harry also became an expert with the famous Bat Bogey hex. A more fun offshoot of the skill was trying to make the other laugh with a funny thought while eating, and watching the consequences.

With that new learning ability, Harry then started teaching her soundless magic. It was slow going for her, but she was able to make a few easy spells work soundlessly. He didn't even consider wandless magic for her yet; after all, he was still struggling with that himself.

Harry found that Hermione picked up Occlumency fairly quickly, and with enough practice would some day be able to block Dumbledore or even Snape. The important thing at the moment was she could easily detect someone was trying a probe on her. Ron was another matter though.

Ron seemed to understand the theory just fine, but couldn't get a decent mental shield up. Harry was considering giving up and asking Cobb for help when he started wondering how much Ron was really trying because of a comment he made.

"I just don't get this Harry, who's going to try to look at my memories?"

"If you have stuff you don't want anyone else to know, who cares who it is." Harry was racking his brain for another teaching angle.

"I still say it doesn't matter," Ron insisted.

Inspiration hit Harry. "Oh really, well in that case, _Legilimens!_" Harry cast the spell on his friend, but this time instead of stopping when the probe first succeeded, he kept going looking backward in time, childhood memories flashing by. Once he had what he wanted, Harry stopped. Ron was looking at him with horror on his face as he'd seen the images go flashing by too. "So Ron, want to talk about wearing Ginny's clothes?" Fortunately for Ron, it was only the two of them in the training room.

"Harry! You shouldn't have done that!"

"But you said it didn't matter, Ron, therefore, I assumed you didn't have any memories or thoughts you wanted to keep private. You know, you looked pretty cute in that lacy pink dress." It was all Harry could do to keep a straight face.

"I was five, stupid stuff you do at that age doesn't count!" Ron was getting a bit hot.

Harry decided to turn up the heat some more. "Well, I could leave your age out of the story when I tell it to people."

"You wouldn't!" Ron was looking murderous now.

Harry paused for a moment. "No Ron, I would never tell that story to anyone. However, do you now see a good reason to learn Occlumency? What if Malfoy were to learn Legilimency? What could he get from you? Forget embarrassing stories, what if the full prophecy got back to Voldemort? What would that mean to the war? Or me? Or Ginny?" He paused before adding, "Or Hermione's safety?"

Two weeks later, Ron had passable shields - barely. He'd never be able to stand up to a full attack from Snape, but he could deflect basic attacks and detect them too. A nice side benefit was he was calmer and did slightly better in Snape's Potions class, where he was still struggling.

If all that wasn't bad enough, Katie wanted to start Quidditch practice as February began; however, the unusually cold weather prevented that. As an alternative, she had the team up early in the mornings in the common room. The Chasers threw a Quaffle around; the Beaters had their bats and a plastic ball from a Muggle toy set, while Harry had his practice Snitch to catch whenever it came within arm's reach. This made Harry and Ginny's morning exercises harder to squeeze in, but they managed when they could.

* * *

A week before Valentine's Day, Harry was battling Tonks in the training room. He was starting to beat her consistently. Professor Cobb was there, watching and evaluating. "Very impressive, Harry. That barely took you more than one minute. I think you need to switch opponents as you're getting too used to her." He stepped onto the mat and let Tonks have a rest.

Harry had dueled him twice so far and had been beaten quickly each time, though the last time had been nearly three months ago. Tonks said "Begin" and they did. This time, Harry almost won, but lost in the end after a grueling seven minute duel.

"Very good, Harry," said a panting Cobb. "Tell me, what do you think about while you're fighting?"

"Nothing particular. Mostly I watch what's happening, look for patterns to anticipate and take advantage of later," Harry replied.

"Uh huh, as you should," the Professor nodded. "Tonks? Did you notice anything usual happening to you when you were fighting him?" She shook her head. "Harry, do you realize you use Legilimency when you fight? Is that consciously or accidentally?"

The boy was surprised. "I wasn't aware I did that."

"Tonks, you've never mastered Occlumency have you?"

"No, Andrew. I only do it at a very basic level and only use when I think I really need it. You're saying that's why he beats me so quickly?"

"I believe so. Harry is good enough that a basic mental shield will not stop him. I felt the attack very obviously and had to actively defend myself against him. Contrariwise, when I tried to read him, I could not, so congratulations, Harry," the Professor told him. "By the way, this also partially explains his speed in blocking spells; he knows what's coming before it's even cast."

"Partially, Professor? What about the rest of it?" Harry wanted to know.

The older Auror looked at him and smiled. "Why the fact that you're sixteen, Harry, is an enormous advantage to you! You are entering the top of your physical peak over the next year or two. Your reflexes will never be better. And then you'll reach Tonks' age over here and start going downhill."

"Hey!" the woman objected, though good naturedly.

"Will I be able to start dueling Professor Dumbledore soon?" Harry decided to see what they'd say.

"Hmm," his DADA teacher thought about that. "It might be interesting to see youth against experience at that. You're getting pretty far along. You've just finished your Charms lessons in the Pensieve, haven't you?"

"Yes, sir. Transfiguration is next."

"Very well, as soon as you finish those, I think it will be time to test you against the greatest wizard of the age, all by yourself." Harry smiled at that thought. Cobb went on, "But until then, let's see how you do against me again." Four minutes later, Harry was still standing and his professor wasn't. "Damn! Three weeks may be too long." Tonks howled at her fellow mentor.

Harry was about to leave but stopped when he remembered a question. "Tonks, is there going to be a Hogsmeade trip for Valentine's Day?"

"If you can keep your lip zipped, yes, it's being considered," she told him cheekily. "Why?"

"We were wondering if we could have the Room of Requirement for the day."

"Oh, so it was a successful substitute?" she queried.

"Yes, and it's about time for a break before things get really busy."

"OK Harry, I'll see what I can do for you." She smiled knowing it was in the bag. The Order still wasn't certain what Voldemort was doing and Snape hadn't had any good tips in awhile, so anything to play it safe with Harry and Ginny was an easy choice to make.

That evening when the foursome was alone, Harry mentioned the potential for a day of relaxation coming up soon. The other three were excited about that. Ginny got even more excited and turned to the other girl. "Hermione, how about you and I plan this day?" She thought it a good idea. Harry was fine with it as then he wouldn't have to do anything other than show up. Ron wasn't so sure about it as he imagined lacy tablecloths and an all day tea party, but he didn't say anything.

Professor Dumbledore let school out on Friday the fourteenth for a trip to Hogsmeade. The girls already had plans and were ready.

Most of the day was spent at what looked like the beach with sand on the floor, although you could see the sky blue walls and a ceiling when you looked hard enough. They played in a pool that had small waves, built large sand castles, as well as had lunch under some shady palm trees, each couple to their own tree. The evening was at a nice restaurant setting on a cliff with what looked like an ocean at the bottom with moonlight streaking across the water – the affect working because of the low light of the room. There was music and a little dancing, but a good bit of the time was spent with the girl on the boy's lap on a very comfortable padded bench overlooking the water, each in their own alcove in the magical moonlight. Between the light breeze, the soft sound of the ocean, and the music, even Ron found it romantic and enjoyed it. They again didn't worry about the time and Professor Dumbledore again had to escort them back to their tower.

* * *

The last Tuesday in February, Harry and Ginny came to the training room for their session and found the Headmaster there, along with Tonks and Professor Cobb. Harry was almost certain he was about to get his arse kicked, but he was eager for the test anyway. Ginny assumed it was to be a three on two test, but instead, Harry let her hand go and told her to have a seat. She could go next if she wanted. When Ginny seemed confused, Tonks patted the chair beside her. As Ginny sat, she saw Harry and Dumbledore bow to one another and get ready. Finally understanding, she felt for Harry and found a ball of excitement with some fear around the edge.

Cobb said "Begin" and Ginny would have sworn she saw Harry shoot a Stunner at the same time he conjured a shield, but that should not have been possible. Based on the Headmaster's reaction, he didn't think so either. Youth made a tremendous showing, but nearly five minutes later, experience won the battle as Harry was knocked down and his wand went flying to the old man. Ginny watched the victor conjure one of his favorite chairs right there on the mat and sit. He pulled out a handkerchief and mopped the sweat off his face and neck.

"Good show, Harry," the Headmaster complimented him as he tried to get his breath back. "If you could have kept that up a moment or two longer, you'd have won by default. I'm getting far too old for extended duels, especially active ones."

"Thank you, sir." Harry went over and retrieved his wand. "May I have a rematch in two more weeks? I need to research some of those spells you used on me."

"You may, I should have recovered by then." Everyone laughed. "Ginny, are you wanting to duel me too?"

"After seeing that? No sir, unless I get to do it right now so I can take advantage of your exhaustion." She smiled to let him know she wasn't serious.

"Then I thank you. Let me move my chair and I'll let you work with Professor Cobb." The old man stood and with the wave of his wand removed his chair and walked over to sit down on the sideline. "By the way, Harry," he looked at the young man who'd just sat beside him, "how did you do two spells at the same time at the beginning of the duel?"

"Um, do I have to tell?" he sheepishly asked.

"I suppose not, but it would be sporting of you."

"Well I, ah, sorta learned to do it wandlessly with my left hand."

"You what?!" Professor Cobb couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"I've been practicing what you taught me, and I can do a few of the first year spells wandlessly now, as well as a couple of the harder ones. The shield spell seemed the most useful, so I've been concentrating on it." He stopped there as he didn't know what else to say.

The three adults were staring at the young man in amazement, but it was his girlfriend who had the first words for him. "You _will_ teach me that, Potter!" Tonks about fell over with laughter.

When everyone recovered, it took Professor Cobb about six minutes to beat Ginny and he told her it wouldn't be long before she won. After that, they did do three on two. The two teens had been perfecting their tandem dueling so much, the adults never had a chance against the very over-powered spells of the teens.

* * *

A couple of nights later, Harry and Ginny were in the training room studying. They were sitting on the couch in their favorite position, each sitting on an end with their legs stretched out and their stocking feet by the other. Harry was reading a borrowed book from Dumbledore on advanced Transfiguration while he idly rubbed Ginny's feet. Ginny was working on a charms essay. Every so often, Harry would stop the rubbing and pick up his wand and try a spell on a rock sitting on the floor not far from him.

He'd just finished changing a chimp back into the rock it had previously been when Ron and Hermione came into the room. Ron was carrying his dog-eared notebook that he'd been writing in for the last couple of months. "Harry, got a minute?"

"Sure, Ron. What's up?" Harry put his wand and his book down.

"I think I've got what you were wanting, but I'm afraid it's a case of good news and bad news." The new couple sat down in the overstuffed chairs.

"Give me the bad news first. Maybe the good news will cheer me up when you're done," Harry told him.

"Well, I've gone through all the reports I can get a hold of," Ron held up his worn notebook, "and I'm afraid that I can't find any patterns in the Death Eater attacks. Whoever is planning them seems to do whatever strikes them at the moment, or so it seems to me. So I can't tell you what they might do next."

"Damn! I was really hoping for something there," Harry exclaimed.

"I know mate and I tried hard, I really did, but if there's something there, I just don't see it." Ron sounded somewhat dejected at having to deliver that news.

"You can't win them all, I suppose. You said you had good news too, what did you find?"

"The good news," the redhead told him, "is that there are patterns within the attacks, that is to say, by the attackers themselves."

"What do you mean by that?" Harry asked.

"When they do attack, they always seem to attack in the same manner and use the same spells, that sort of thing. Or so it seems from what I can gather, though you have to understand that some attacks have left no witnesses, so we can't be sure about those."

"Good job, Ron!" Harry's friend beamed at the compliment. "I knew you could find useful data in there. So what did you find?"

Ginny had stopped working when her friend and her brother had come in. Now the other three intently listened to Ron and started discussing his research. It took over half an hour for Ron to disclose what he'd found as well as the possible ways to deal with it. They took another half an hour to argue out yet more alternatives beyond what Ron had come up with.

When there was a lull in the discussion, Harry leaned back and stared at the ceiling thoughtfully. Ginny felt contemplation from him as he thought about it deeply, and then a spike of desire for fun.

Harry suddenly smiled and sat back up. "Does everyone think they understand how Ron says Death Eaters attack?" He got three affirmatives. "Great, then let's test it out. Grab your wands and let's go over to the mat." Harry had been training with Ron a little bit during the year, but not too much. He'd mostly left his friend alone to research. But he felt now it was time for Ron to change to more practical or hands on work.

On the mat, Harry told them, "OK, I want you three to pretend you're Death Eaters and act like Ron described, though please don't use the more damaging spells." That got a couple of nervous laughs. "I'm going to see if I can handle you lot since I know how you'll come at me."

"But Harry," Hermione spoke up, "it's three on one. Even you don't have a chance against that."

"Maybe not, but let's find out." They pulled out their wands and with some hesitation, Ginny cast the first spell. A little less than a minute later, she was reviving a stunned Harry.

Lying on the mat, he looked up at his three friends. "That didn't go so well," he stated.

Hermione gave him a smug look while Ron told him, "You didn't do so badly. You took me out and that Tickling charm on Hermione slowed her down, but yeah, you still didn't make it."

Harry slowly got up and thought about what had just happened. "OK," he told them, "I know you don't get second chances in real life, but let's try again."

Again the other three surrounded Harry. He had his wand at the ready and looked to each of them doing a quick read. Ginny was completely shielded, Hermione was mostly so but he felt "Stunner" coming from her, and Ron was completely open and thinking about a tripping jinx. "Ready?" he asked, and he received three yeses. "Then go!"

Ignoring Ron for the moment, he took a big step sideways to the right and turned to cast two reflective shields. However, instead of in front of him, he cast them only a few feet in front of Ginny and Hermione, one with a wand and one without - at the same time. Without stopping, he continued to turn and move while casting a transfiguration spell toward Ron as he faced him again. He again moved sideways and turned until he saw Hermione lying on the ground and a stumbling Ginny. A light stunner at his girlfriend ended the match.

"Yes!" he triumphantly shouted to no one in particular, as there really was no one there who could hear him. He awoke his girlfriend and Hermione, both of whom looked quite surprised to see him standing over them.

Hermione looked around then asked him, "Where's Ron?"

"Oh, I think he's hiding under the chair." Turning a bit, he cast, "_Accio Guinea Pig_." A little gray and slightly reddish animal flew over to him, which he caught and handed to her.

"Harry!" Hermione was shocked. "I can't believe you did this."

"Well, you said I could use him as a guinea pig," he pointed out to her. Ginny started giggling.

"I also said you had to turn him back!" The brunette held her boyfriend out at arms length towards Harry, who waved his wand and his friend returned to his true form.

"That wasn't very nice," were the first words out of his best friend's mouth.

"Hey mate, don't look at me," Harry told him. "It was her idea," he was pointing at Ron's girlfriend. Ron turned and glared at her.

"Ron, it was only a joke. I didn't really mean it that way." Hermione tried to defend herself.

Harry offered a hand to Ginny to help her up from where she was sitting on the floor. As they walked back over to their couch leaving the arguing couple behind, she told Harry, "That was pretty incredible."

"Thanks," he said as he pulled her to him. "Do I get a reward?" He smiled mischievously at her.

"Only if you'll tell me how you did it," she said, but she gave him a kiss anyway. Ginny didn't finish her essay that evening. Ron and Hermione also stopped their fighting long enough to make up. Between congratulatory kisses and discussing how Harry had won, all four of them barely made it back to the tower before curfew came an hour later.

The next day Ron presented his research on Death Eater attack patterns to Tonks, which Harry demonstrated in the training session. The Auror was thrilled to see it and couldn't wait to show Ron's work to Kingsley. The Death Eater fighting styles would be useful to know.

* * *

It was the third of March and Harry had just finished a double Potions class that afternoon. It was the same thing for the millionth time, but somehow it was different today. He'd managed to keep his cool, but barely; even Hermione had been affected and failed her potion for the day. Ron just gave up and "accidentally" dropped his cauldron, taking a zero was much preferred to drinking what he had brewed.

The class ate at Harry all through dinner. Ginny asked what was wrong and all he said was "Potions." She knew to leave him alone for a bit while he sorted himself out. After dinner, he still felt bothered, so while everyone else was doing homework, he decided to step out for a few minutes.

Ginny looked up and caught Harry heading towards the portrait hole. "Where are you going?"

"I need to talk to McGonagall. I'll be right back," he told her.

She nodded, put her quill down, and got up to walk him out.

"Ginny, it's just around the corner ..." he started to protest, until he remembered his rule for her.

She picked up on that feeling of protest, then embarrassed acquiescence. "Yes Harry, what's good for the goose is good for the gander." She also had the nerve to laugh at him. He good naturedly took it as it was deserved, he thought.

They arrived at their Head of House's door, not far from their tower, and knocked. She answered a moment later in a comfortable looking tartan dress. "Mr. Potter, Ms. Weasley."

"Professor, may we talk to you about something important for a few minutes?" Harry seemed nervous, Ginny thought. They'd walked in silence so he hadn't told her why they were here.

"Of course, do come in." McGonagall let them close the door as she returned to her seat near the fireplace, a seat that was surrounded by many parchments.

"You know, Professor," Harry told her in a somewhat nervous voice, "if you didn't give so much homework you wouldn't have so much grading to do."

She thought that was funny so she gave him a small smile. "Nice try, Mr. Potter. Now what was it you needed to see me about?"

"Professor, have you ever noticed how many points our house loses after my Potions class? Or any Potions class that has Gryffindors in it for that matter?"

"No Potter, I can't say I have. Why do you ask?"

She saw Harry take a deep breath and he told her about the shenanigans Professor Snape did in his class, like dropping his work so he had no potion to turn in, dropping things in his caldron to spoil the potion, accusing him of things that obviously weren't true, trying to make him angry so he would make mistakes, telling him he did something wrong and taking points but never telling him what the right thing to do was, taking points off when he did something but not when the Slytherins did the same thing, giving Neville a hard time too, asking a question in class then ignoring Hermione when she was the only one with her hand raised, standing behind him and not moving to purposely make him nervous and make a mistake, and giving him detentions for things he didn't give other students detentions for.

She was shocked when he had finished. "You're serious, aren't you, Potter."

"Yes Professor. And I guess what I really want to know is, why you've never done anything about it? Surely reports of Professor Snape's behavior have reached you before." Even in her shock, she noticed he'd used Snape's title.

McGonagall sat there for a moment before she said anything. "Ms. Weasley, have things like this been going on in your Potions class too?"

"Yes, Professor. All my brothers had similar experiences too." The redhead tried to be honest, as much as she really wanted to exaggerate to help get rid of Snape. He messed with her work too.

Finally McGonagall answered the question. "I've heard a few things, but the teachers normally leave each other's classes alone."

"But Professor," Harry objected, "why haven't you ever stuck up for your own house when its students are being abused? Or why haven't you ever retaliated against the Slytherins to try to get Professor Snape to back down? Or why haven't you ever asked Professor Dumbledore to try to reign in Snape's excesses?"

McGonagall was stunned hearing this from him, but she couldn't really refute it, as she knew deep down it almost certainly was all true. She finally said, "I'll look into it for you."

"Thank you Professor," he told her. She watched him stand and Ginny joined him to leave.

"Mr. Potter," Harry looked at her. "I have heard the rumors and I'm sorry I've never looked into them before. But I promise you that I shall now. Being Deputy-Headmistress should be good for something. Good night." He gave her a small nod in acknowledgment and left to go back to his common room.

* * *

After much thought about her conversation with Harry the night before, Minerva McGonagall gave Hermione Granger a note in Transfiguration class to come see her after dinner. She hoped she was doing the right thing.

When Hermione arrived, Minerva offered her a seat. "Ms. Granger, I've heard some disturbing reports about Mr. Potter in his Potions class." Hermione gave her a questioning look. "It's been said that he has behaviour problems there. While I don't really believe that, I must investigate anyway and an eye witness is about the best I can do at this time. Would you be willing to watch him, sort of be a camera, and come back so we can talk about it in a week or so? I don't want you to do anything, especially anything that would get you in trouble with Professor Snape, but I do need to know what is going on it that class. Would you please help me?"

"Certainly Professor, I'll be glad to." Hermione thought it was a bit odd, but she was glad someone was finally thinking about the students in her Potions class.

* * *

In Potions the next day, Hermione watched Snape again goad Harry into a mistake and then he took off twenty points. She also noted that he didn't stop Malfoy from teasing Harry about it.

The class after that, Snape hovered around Harry and she heard all of the Professor's derogatory remarks when Harry's potion wasn't made correctly. Snape also never offered to help him or give him any advice.

At lunch on Saturday, Hermione saw Professor McGonagall walk up to their table. "Ms. Granger, would you please to come to my office after lunch? I have a small project I'd like to work with you on."

Hermione knew what was coming. "Certainly, Professor."

Harry was a bit suspicious since he'd talked to his Head of House recently. "What does she want?"

"Not sure," Hermione said. "I did ask her about some extra Transfiguration work the other day." Both statements were true, yet not entirely. She raised her mental shields and purposefully didn't do more than give Harry or Ginny a quick glance in case either of them tried to see if she was telling the truth.

As she finished, she gave Ron a quick peck on the cheek and went to find her professor. In her office, McGonagall locked the door then motioned her to a chair in front of a low table. Hermione saw her turn around and reach into a cabinet, where she pulled out a medium-sized Pensieve which was placed on the table.

"Ms. Granger, if you would, I'd like you to place a copy of your memories from your last few Potions classes in there. I'll show you how." The teacher gave a quick demonstration.

Hermione had wondered if this was what would happen and had prepared for it. "Professor, I could put more memories in too, you know, for other memorable classes for the last five years."

"As you wish," she was told. After three years worth of classes, McGonagall told her to stop as the Pensieve was almost full. "But Professor, I've still got two years worth to go." Her teacher looked astonished. "One last memory then, Professor." She thought of her very first Potions class over five years ago and added it in.

Her professor gave her one last instruction. "If you lean over into the bowl, we can go through the memories together. We'll be able to see and hear, but we can't affect the memory playing in front of us; so don't be surprised if I ask you about something. Go ahead and answer."

"Yes Professor." Hermione took a deep breath and leaned over, suddenly she was falling and landed at the back of a classroom full of eleven year olds. Turning, she saw her current day Professor with her. They watched Professor Snape start his class...

Nearly four hours later, Hermione found herself back in her seat in McGonagall's office. They had spent from one to five minutes in almost ninety of Hermione's past moments.

"I had no idea it was like that!" McGonagall lips were stretched so tight as to be almost non-existent. "It's been like that from day one?"

"Yes, Professor," Hermione told her. Not sure what else to say, she just sat there and looked at her Head of House, who seemed to be staring into space evaluating the situation.

After a minute of contemplation, McGonagall looked at her. "Ms. Granger, this is not something I would normally ask a student, but seeing as you're so familiar with the situation and a Prefect who has shown herself to think things through. What would you suggest be done?"

Hermione was both honored and frightened at the question. That McGonagall would consider her capable and trustworthy enough to ask made her day. That McGonagall even asked the question showed what a huge mess this was and that no solution would be easy. What she really wanted to say was to sack him and get a real teacher, someone who would actually care about his or her students, but she wasn't sure she could go that far.

Her pause had been long enough that McGonagall smiled very slightly and gently said, "Besides getting a new Potions Master, which would be somewhat problematic." Hermione gave a start at having her mind practically read, but McGonagall continued, "It is the obvious answer, but it's not really possible at this time."

The girl nodded at that and finally answered, "The Headmaster is ultimately responsible, perhaps he would have a good idea."

McGonagall looked at her student for a moment then agreed. "I hate to pass the problem along, but it's probably for the best. May I keep these memory copies for a while, in case I need to show them to the Headmaster?"

Hermione knew she didn't have anything to hide in them, she'd done nothing bad, but they were still her private thoughts. She finally nodded and said, "You may, as long as the Headmaster is the only other one who might possibly view them and that I can come watch to make sure the copies are destroyed when they're no longer needed."

Her professor nodded. "Thank you, Ms. Granger. You've been a tremendous help. You should hurry along, dinner will be starting soon. And Hermione," the girl turned as she finished standing up to face her Head of House, "again, not a word to anyone."

"Of course not, Professor." With that, a troubled Hermione left to find dinner and to try to hide the issue from her friends until it could be worked out

* * *

.


	20. Detention

Version: 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

**Chapter 20: Detention**

As mid-March arrived, so did the Quidditch matches. First up was Hufflepuff versus Slytherin. Hufflepuff's team wasn't that good this year so they never had a chance, even with a lot of penalty shots. The game ended 330-80 in Slytherin's favor.

The next weekend was Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw. Ravenclaw had a pretty good team this year, but Harry knew he could outfly Cho Chang any day of the week; so the game would be decided by the Chasers. If they could keep Gryffindor even close, Harry would win it for them. Harry's catch, coupled with Ron having an exceptionally good day, left the score at 340-140. Ginny scored twelve goals all by herself; and when they double teamed her, Katie took advantage of the situation to score six of her own.

Monday afternoon, Harry again faced Dumbledore in a dueling contest. To prepare, he'd been reading the books in his portable library trunk with a vengeance. He'd also discussed some of the spells Dumbledore had used last time with Professor Cobb to learn more about them, as well as how to block or defend against them.

Harry looked at Tonks, who gave him an encouraging sign before she started them. Taking a risk by not using a shield, Harry started with a Cutting Curse and a wandless Stunning Spell. He had to dodge like crazy, but survived the first wave of spells and did his best to overcome his professor by shear volume of magic. A very hard four and a half minutes, double Stunning Spells, one with his wand and one wandlessly, finally did the trick. The Headmaster couldn't dodge that many spells that quickly.

His joy was so complete, if she hadn't been in Binns's class, Ginny would have gotten in trouble for knocking all her things off her desk when the wave of euphoria hit her. He enjoyed Ginny's congratulatory kiss later.

As Dumbledore slowly rose from the floor after Tonks had revived him, he congratulated Harry and felt some hope for the young man; however, he still had concerns. Dumbledore didn't want to dampen the boy's morale by pointing out the spell selection was in Harry's favor. Albus knew spells that would have ended the match sooner, but to have used them on Harry was unthinkable. The bare room with a lack of materials to transfigure was also to Harry's advantage. Also, Albus was certain that if he had been even ten years younger, Harry probably wouldn't have had a chance; the Headmaster knew his age and condition were now liabilities. Albus kept those thoughts to himself as he knew Harry would be getting even better with time and a confidence boost could help that.

Tuesday was not as good, however. Harry made an honest mistake in Potions that day. He'd been so engrossed in trying to understand the instructions that he'd forgotten to stir. Heating up too fast, his cauldron spewed its contents all over his workstation. Unfortunately for him, Snape was standing behind him watching and he got some goop on him too.

"Detention tonight at seven, Potter," Snape growled. "I don't think you're going to get it all cleaned up before class is over."

Harry groaned to himself. He didn't dare make a sound out loud lest Snape make it worse. He had planned on spending at least a little time with Ginny, but he now guessed that was not going to happen. "Yes, Professor."

After dinner, Harry went down to the Potions lab and Ginny decided at the last minute to walk with him before heading to the library. When they reached the door to Snape's class, Harry turned to Ginny. "I'm sorry about this, Ginny. I know I've ruined our evening."

"Sssh," she told him. "The apology earlier was enough. Hopefully, you'll be done early and we can have a few minutes by the fire in the common room before going to bed." Trying to comfort him a little more, she stood up on her toes and gave him a quick kiss on the lips before swishing her hair as she turned around and slowly sauntered away to go to the library.

Her teasing had the appropriate affect as Harry couldn't take his eyes off of her. With his mantra of _I'm a Gryffindor_ going through his head, he opened the classroom door and went in to face his detention.

He had barely entered the classroom when he heard Snape sneer, "Late as usual, Potter." He saw Snape fling a spell at the door causing it to close and lock. The unusual action had Harry reaching for his wand, but not soon enough.

Snape then fired a bludgeoning spell at Harry, who dodged enough so it only grazed him. Still, Harry screamed in pain as he knew his left arm had to be broken, it hurt so badly. It wouldn't respond to any command he gave it, except to shoot waves of pain through him.

Ginny was starting up the stairs leading from the dungeon when she felt an incredibly large spike of pain, then anger and betrayal mixing into the emotional surge, from Harry. While she had no idea what had just happened to him, there was only one thing to do. She jumped down the three steps she'd gone up and ran as fast as she could back towards the Potions lab.

Harry saw a workstation next to him on his right and scrambled behind it as bolt of red magical energy shot through the space he'd just been standing in. His wand in his good hand, he cast a reflective shield in front of him and peered over the work table to find Snape, only to have a Stunner hit his shield and bounce off to hit jars of unknown potion ingredients on a shelf on the side of the room. Harry's anger was solidly focused on Snape now, but he did his best to keep his anger under control so he could try to think of a way out of this. Now that he knew where Snape was, he fired a Stunner of his own, but Snape neatly blocked it. They continued to trade spells, blocking and dodging where necessary. Snape was gaining the advantage because Harry's injury significantly decreased his mobility.

Ginny finally made it to the classroom only to find the door locked. A simple "Alohomora" did nothing to it. Feeling Harry's anger continuing to mount, still with a large amount of pain, she threw all caution to the wind and shot her heaviest bludgeoning spell at the door. It wasn't until after she saw it splinter into what must have been hundreds of pieces and fly inward that she guiltily hoped Harry hadn't been behind the now non-existent door. She registered surprise from Harry, quickly followed by determination.

Dropping her book bag, she started to run into the classroom only to have a bolt of energy sail through the doorway where she would have been had she not paused to deal with her bag. But with that out of the way, she felt mostly safe to create her strongest shield. With it glowing slightly golden at the edges and pointed towards where the spell had come from, she now ran into the room and scanned it for Harry so she could join him.

When Harry heard the door blow in, he finally felt Ginny's desperation pierce his own feelings. With the knowledge that she was about to join him, he again stood up and this time shot a concussion spell at Snape. While it only hit the man's shield, it was still quite effective because Snape was flinging a Stunner at the doorway to catch whoever was trying to come in, and the concussion blindsided him, throwing him to the floor, unfortunately without any real damage.

The distraction gave Ginny time to come through the doorway and see Harry not far away from her. Half a dozen strides later, she was crouched behind the solid workstation with him.

"Oh Harry, what happened?!" Ginny tried to put her hand on his arm so they could power share.

Harry gave a cry of pain as she jostled his left arm. Doing his best to ignore the pain, he told her, "My arm is broken. Put your hand on my neck so we can take care of this git." As she did so, her shield failed, but Harry was already conjuring up another one; this one with their combined strength. As it came up, it clanged loudly from some spell Snape had used, indicating he had recovered from the concussion and was back on the attack.

"Give it up, Potter! Even your pathetic girlfriend can't help you now."

Anger rose up in Harry again, but he contained it just long enough to whisper to Ginny, "Hit him with any spell you can, just focus to use all your energy. I need you to break his shield."

Ginny couldn't cast with her left hand nearly as well as Harry could, and she'd have to do that because her right hand was holding onto his neck. Still, she thought she could do a Stunner. Nodding to him, she stood up behind his shield and concentrated as hard as she could while shouting, "_Stupefy_!" As she felt the spell leave her wand, she felt Harry stand up and heard him shout, "_Expelliarmus!_"

While Ginny's Stunner didn't quite break through Snape's shield and stun him, it did collapse the professor's shield. That allowed Harry's _Expelliarmus_ to hit Snape fully in the body, a body which flew backwards the nine feet to the blackboard on the wall and hit with a crack. Harry wasn't sure if the cracking sound was the blackboard or Snape's bones; he frankly didn't care, though he sort of hoped it came from snapping bones. Snape's wand came flying through the air at Harry; since he couldn't catch it and still hold his own wand with only one hand, he ducked to let it fly by, but Ginny lifted her hand from Harry's neck and caught it. Their shield fell at the loss of contact, but neither cared too much as it was pretty obvious Snape wasn't going anywhere soon.

Harry slowly advanced on Snape with his wand warily trained on the greasy haired Potions master. As he was about to have Ginny tie him up, it occurred to him to be a little more careful. "_Accio Portkeys!_" An object on a necklace and a Knut in Snape's cloak came flying to him. Now that the stress of battle had lessened, he thought to use a quick levitation charm to catch them in the air; then he dropped them to the floor on his right side where they wouldn't get in the way.

"Ginny, would you please move him to a chair and tie him there. I think Snivellus," he snarled the name, "and I need to talk and I don't want him leaving us."

"My pleasure, Harry." Ginny levitated him over and shot ropes out the end of her wand to keep the Potions master in place. While she was doing that, she noticed Harry doing another spell on him. "What spell was that?" she asked.

"An Anti-Disapparation spell. He shouldn't be able to do it here, but I'm really paranoid right now. Be right back," he told her as he strode towards Snape's personal potion closet. Searching the shelves, he quickly found the "V's" in the orderly closet. Seeing the label he was looking for, he grabbed one of the small phials of the potion he wanted.

Returning to Ginny and what he thought of as his prisoner, he handed her the small phial. "I'm really sorry to have to ask you to touch him, but can you please dump some of this down his throat? I can't even uncork it with one hand much less make him drink it."

She looked at the label on the phial then looked up at him. "Harry, are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes. I have to know. I have to know several things and this is the only way to find out."

"But shouldn't we get the headmaster?" It wasn't that Ginny was afraid to do this, she just didn't want Harry to get in trouble.

"We will ... after I have a few answers and know what's going on, we'll get others down here. Just open his mouth and pour several drops in. I'll give it a minute or so to take affect before I awake him so he can't fight it." Harry seemed so in control on the outside, though she could still feel his feelings of anger, betrayal, and pain. Seeing that control gave her the confidence to see this through. So she popped the cork off, then pulled Snape's chin down, pushed his head back, and poured a dose from the phial down the man's throat.

While they waited the short time to make sure the potion took affect, Ginny asked him, "So how's your arm?"

"Definitely been better," he told her before he turned to look at her. "Ginny, I'm so glad you came back. I can't tell you enough how good it felt to have you take the door out and come running through." Giving her a small smirk, he also told her, "You're definitely my hero for rescuing me."

She gave him a small laugh. "That's heroine, you prat!" She also gave him a light kiss on the cheek before she turned serious. "I was so scared though. When I felt the wave of panic and pain come from you, it was so intense I thought I'd hurt myself for the first second or two. When I realized you were in trouble, I was ready to do anything to make you safe again." Ginny stopped to study his lovely eyes for a moment. "I think ... I think I now realize why you feel so protective of me." She continued to gaze at him. "If anything ever happened to you, I don't know how I'd go on; it would be so difficult. So you never let it happen, you hear me, Potter?" She had ended on a fierce note, but Harry loved her for it, for her love for him. He reached over and put his good arm around her for a brief moment drawing her in for a hug and to kiss the top of her head as he held her close.

Letting go of her, he retrained his wand on his prisoner and told her, "Let's get some answers. _Enervate!_" Snape came to and Harry was pleased to see a somewhat glassy look in his eyes, as well as a numb look on his face.

"Severus Snape," he said crisply, "to whom is your allegiance, to Dumbledore or to Voldemort?"

"To the Dark Lord," came back the monotone answer. Ginny gasped and Harry hung his head, though he could think of several curses that would fit, swearing just didn't seem useful at this time.

"Has your allegiance always been to the Dark Lord, or have you switch sides over time?"

"Always for the Dark Lord."

Harry finally swore, commenting darkly on the Headmaster's ancestry and stupidity. Looking at Ginny, he gave her a "Sorry."

"That's OK," she told him. "I was thinking something similar, and I'm not Hermione, so I'm not going to correct you."

Harry smiled at her then became grim as he asked the next question. "What were you trying to do tonight? What was your goal?"

"I was trying to capture Harry Potter and take him to the Dark Lord to complete my mission."

Harry felt the surge of anger, which was the only thing that allowed him to use his Seeker reflexes to stop her hand before she could cast a spell at Snape. "Ginny, stop!" He was having to struggle to hold her with only one arm. "We need him a little while longer; then we can send him to the giant squid, or maybe the giant spiders in the forest."

A few seconds later, he felt her release the tension of the moment, then her arm lowered. "I think the spiders are the better option Harry. I like the squid and wouldn't want to give him indigestion."

Something between a snort and a chuckle escaped Harry's lips. "That's why I love you, Ginny, you're always thinking of others." Though she didn't laugh or giggle, Harry saw her face soften and he felt her love for him as the wave of tension ebbed. Turning back to the prisoner he continued. "Severus, is there a plan or reason to capture Ginny Weasley?"

"Yes."

"Why does the Dark Lord want her captured?"

"To use her as bait to catch Harry Potter, and to use as a toy."

Now Harry's hand flew into motion only to be stopped by two smaller hands on his forearm. His white-hot anger burned through her mind so intensely, Ginny had trouble concentrating on the task. "Harry! Stop!" she yelled to get his attention. "Harry, you have to stop! We need him alive for a little bit longer. Please, Harry." Her appeals started to break through his fog of unreason, and she felt him relax in both mind and body.

"Yes, definitely the spiders," he said intensely. She felt the hot anger being replaced by cold hatred. There was none of the humor in him now. She continued to hold his arm, even though he had relaxed his muscles, until she felt he was back in control emotionally. She saw him slowly turn to her and she saw some form of normalcy return to his eyes.

He turned facing mostly away from Snape and stood still for a few moments thinking hard. Then he waved his wand in a pattern that looked familiar but she didn't recognize: "_Communis_ _Patronum._" She saw a very faint stag come out of his wand and run through the air and into the ceiling.

"Is that the spell the Order members use to send messages?" She looked at him in awe for knowing this.

"Yes. I just sent a message to Dumbledore that we have an emergency in the Potions lab and to come as quickly as possible. I guess we need some witnesses, perhaps the other Heads of House?" Ginny nodded. So Harry sent one to McGonagall, and one to Flitwick which said he should also bring Sprout.

"An Auror would be good," Ginny suggested. "Tonks would help you." She gave him a mischievous grin. "And you know Moody would like to know about this."

"I love the way you think."

"You should," she said sweetly. That got him laughing so hard his arm started hurting again causing him to rest for a moment before he could send the messages to Tonks and Moody.

"Now we wait." Though she heard him, she was concentrating on feeling his emotions, trying to figure out how he was going to handle this. He was very definitely in control. In fact she felt a steel in him she'd never felt before. But it was a steel tempered by anger, a feeling she never wanted directed at her.

They didn't have long to wait, Dumbledore came into the classroom less than two minutes later at a fast walk and with wand drawn. He'd just made it inside the door, taking in its damage, when he saw two of his best students. But they weren't what held his attention, it was his Potions master trussed up with a numb look on his face. Though he was somewhat out of breath from practically running down from his office, the raggedness of his voice came from the shock of what he was seeing. "What's going on here?"

The sneer in Harry's voice snapped Dumbledore's look to the one he thought of as his unofficial apprentice. "Well Headmaster, I would think that the condition of the room and the fact that Snape here is tied up should clue you in as to what's happened. Perhaps I should also tell you what you can't see, that my arm is broken, and that happened before everything else you see here did."

Dumbledore's mind was spinning so fast he didn't know where to stop, so he asked the obvious. "What happened, Harry?"

Harry did not let up on the contempt in his voice. "Please have a seat, Headmaster, I'll be _happy _to explain in a few moments when the rest arrive."

"Rest?"

"Yes, several more Professors and I hope a couple of Aurors. It should be an entertaining meeting."

Dumbledore did not look pleased to hear that, Ginny noted, but he didn't say anything. Ginny wondered what Harry was going to do; in fact, she wondered if even Harry knew what he was going to do. She also noted that Harry seemed bent on taking charge and he was getting away with it so far. It could get lively when Dumbledore's shock wore off, but she suspected Snape was going to help Harry keep the shock going.

As Dumbledore was taking the proffered seat, a faint wolf came running into the room and burst onto Harry. A moment later, he turned to Ginny with, "We'll have two Aurors here in five minutes or less."

Ginny was also wondering if someone should set up tea and scones for this meeting, which almost caused her to chuckle, but the sound of quick feet helped her to avoid the problem. In rushed Professor McGonagall, closely followed by Professors Flitwick and Sprout. Again, dismay and a flurry of "What's going on" filled the air. To which Harry, with utter politeness (which shocked Ginny compared to how Harry had just spoken to Dumbledore), told the three newcomers that if they would please take a seat, all questions would be answered in a few minutes. As the three of them got settled, Tonks came racing in with wand drawn, and Moody was heard stomping behind her as quick as he could go. This time Harry didn't wait for the obvious question, he again politely suggested a seat so they could begin. Taking it all in in a daze, Tonks and Moody also sat.

"Now that we're all here," Harry began in an almost normal voice, "I'll explain what happened, though I would appreciate you holding your questions for a few minutes." Harry ran his hand through his hair as he took a deep breath to start. Ginny found it interesting he still hadn't put his wand away so it went over his hair too, but she wasn't going to say anything about that; after all, she still had hers out and pointed in the general direction of Snape. She felt it her duty to watch the prisoner while Harry took care of the explanations.

As tightly wound up as he was, Ginny thought he did a pretty good job of sticking to the facts of what happened. She'd expected gasps at various points in the story, but surprisingly to her, she didn't hear any. Looks of great surprise were on everyone's face. Harry was finishing his story, and here it would get very interesting she knew.

"So I gave him Veritaserum to find out why he tried to hurt me, and let me tell you the answers he gave did not make me happy."

That is was McGonagall that spoke first surprised Harry. "Mr. Potter, that is most out of the ordinary. I can't believe you'd do that to one of your professors, even Severus."

"Professor..." Harry gave her his best pitying look at what he considered to be something that was beneath her. "At the moment he started attacking me, he was no longer my professor. He became an enemy, and the Death Eater that we all know he was. When he attacked me, it became personal and I _**was**_ going to find out why he did it."

"Damn straight," came a gravelly voice from the back. Harry gave Moody a smile before he continued.

"Here, let me show you what I found out." Harry turn to his prisoner. "Severus Snape, to whom is your allegiance, Dumbledore or the Dark Lord?"

"The Dark Lord." Now there were gasps.

"Has it always been to the Dark Lord?"

"Yes."

At this point Harry turned to Dumbledore and Ginny felt his rage spike again and it certainly came out in his voice. All the good feelings Harry had for the old man were gone. "Headmaster! What the bloody hell were you thinking having him here when you didn't know for sure who he really followed? I mean, really. He's the third Death Eater you've had working here, and I consider Quirrell a Death Eater - who also had Voldemort himself in this castle. How could you not know?" He heard a grunt of approval from Moody, while he saw Dumbledore drop his head into his hands in shock and remorse.

Turning back to Snape, Harry asked about the purpose of tonight, and again was told it was to capture Harry. "I feel so safe now, let me tell you, Headmaster. By the way, it was at this point that I had to physically restrain my girlfriend from doing something drastic to him. I'm not sure what it was, but I'm also quite sure it would have been quite unpleasant for the prisoner."

"I believe a _Reducto_ to the head was going through my mind at the time," Ginny acknowledged. All heads snapped toward her.

Harry let that sink in a bit before he continued with the questions about Ginny's capture. Snape couldn't help but give the same answers. Ginny again noticed the rage build in Harry which did show on his face. Attempting to defuse the moment, she spoke up again following his lead. "It was at this point I had to physically restrain my boyfriend from doing something unpleasant to the prisoner. What was going through your head at the time Harry? You didn't tell me then."

Harry was looking down, still reining his temper in. He finally said, "I didn't have any special spell going through my head at the time. I just wanted to send all the magical energy I had through him in one blast, though now that you make me think about it, I probably would have Vanished him like Mrs. Black's portrait." Ginny gave a deadly smile to her boyfriend while she heard a gasp from Tonks, who realized the spells from both of them would have been quite fatal to Snape.

Now that Harry had gotten his composure back, he straightened back up as best as his injury would let him so as to continue. "It was at this point that I started calling everyone as I knew what I was dealing with, but it seems to me there are a few more questions we really should have answered. The most interesting one I think would be the one you, Headmaster, avoided and told me it was Snape's question to answer. I think now is the time for all of us to hear about it." Dumbledore finally raised his head from his hands for the first time since it had gone down, but Harry couldn't fathom the look on the old man's face, other than some form of horror. Turning back to the prisoner, "Snape, what story did you tell Dumbledore that convinced him you'd switched sides?" There was a gasp from McGonagall and another grunt of approval from Mad-Eye.

"I told him that Voldemort had my parents killed."

"Was that true?"

"No."

"What really happened?"

"My parents went to the giants as ambassadors of the Dark Lord to get them to aid us, but something went wrong and the giants killed them. The Dark Lord thought that would be a good excuse for Dumbledore to believe me so I could spy on him."

Harry was slightly shaking his head at hearing all of this. Another question popped into his head. "How were you able to convince Dumbledore that lie was the truth?"

"I'm a better Occlumens than he is a Legilimens." That made Moody swear some more.

"Snape, why did you decide to attack me now when you've had plenty of time in the past?" Harry wanted to make sure they knew this.

"The Dark Lord wants you captured soon and I knew I was being investigated because of my teaching so I had to hurry before I was no longer here."

Harry decided that was interesting and wanted to know more. "Snape, are there any other plans to try to capture me?"

"Yes, the Dark Lord has several."

"What are they?"

"I do not know."

"Why don't you know?" Harry persisted.

"The Dark Lord has assigned each of his lieutenants to come up with a plan, and only the Dark Lord knows them all."

_Damn! _Harry thought. _I'm going to have to be really careful. _"Snape, was there a plan to capture me for Valentine's Day?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't that work?"

"You did not show up at Hogsmeade."

Harry looked at Tonks and a smile slowly appeared on his face. "Sometimes we do get lucky, huh?" Tonks nodded her agreement.

"Are there any students enrolled in the school now who have taken the Dark Mark?" Harry had a new concern about being safe within the castle.

"No."

"What about Draco Malfoy. Do you know for sure about him not having it or does he just want to?" Harry wanted to know about his school nemesis.

"Draco Malfoy does not have the Dark Mark, he wants to get it this summer." Harry shot a look at Dumbledore to show he wanted to talk about that, preferably to send Draco away, but Dumbledore wouldn't look at him.

Another line of questions formed in Harry's mind, but there was one small problem. Looking slightly to the right, "Professor Sprout, are you part of the Order of the Phoenix?"

Dumbledore finally spoke. "Harry! You aren't supposed to mention that." Harry ignored him and held Sprout's gaze as he waited for her answer.

In a quiet and somewhat shaky voice she replied, "No, I'm not. I've been asked to join, but I've yet to make a decision."

Nodding in acknowledgment, Harry, still ignoring Dumbledore, turned to Moody and announced, "Mad-Eye, it's your decision then as to whether she stays or not, but there are some more questions that I feel must be asked while I still have a little more time before the potion runs out."

Moody didn't use more than a couple of seconds to consider the question. "Go ahead lad, ask away."

Returning to the prisoner, Harry asked his next one. "Snape, are there other spies within the Order?"

"Not that I know of."

As he was about to go to something else, Tonks asked a question. "Severus, is there anyone else you suspect might be a spy within the Order and if so who?" Harry thought that was a good question and wished he'd thought of it.

"I suspect Fletcher." Moody growled at that answer from Snape.

"Why?"

"He has been approached." Tonks did not like that answer. She and Moody shared a sour look and Harry knew Dung was about to be very closely scrutinized.

Moody took the next question. "What Order plans have you told Voldemort?" Harry had been thinking a similar question.

"Everything."

Now Moody swore loudly and Harry learned a few new combinations, and sneaking a look at Ginny, he saw her fighting a smile of admiration.

Tonks took the question baton back. "Severus, have you injured or killed anyone in the Order?" Harry wondered why she asked that one.

"Yes."

"Who?"

"I killed Hestia Jones when she got in the way."

Tonks must have suspected that as she made no other comment. "Anyone else?"

"I tried to kill Charlie Weasley but only injured him." Harry didn't think he'd heard about Charlie being hurt then it came to him. Charlie had been hurt during ...

Harry's voice got very cold. "You were at the raid on The Burrow during Christmas break, weren't you?"

"Yes."

Again, the only thing that allowed Harry to react fast enough was feeling the spike of fury that preceded the action. He whirled and caught Ginny's arm as she was starting the down stroke. "_Reducto!_" but the wand motion hadn't been completed so only angry red sparks come out the end of her wand and a little bit of dust came off the ceiling sprinkling Snape like a light snow.

"Ginny!" A pair of blazing but beautiful brown eyes grabbed his, begging to be released. "Soon," he softly said as he tried to pull her back down to a controlled state. "Soon, Ginny..." She finally relaxed and Harry now allowed his gaze to sweep over the adults and noticed that only Dumbledore wasn't sitting a bit further back in his seat in surprise; but that was probably only because he still wore the expression of extreme shock. "Any other questions?" he asked the group. "Oh wait, there's one more I want to know. Snape, when you were giving me Occlumency lessons last year, were you really trying to teach me or did you have a different goal?"

"I was trying to open your mind to the Dark Lord so you'd retrieve the prophecy for him." Harry barely contained his anger by giving a very dark look at Dumbledore.

"If there are no other questions?" he asked the group. Not getting any answer, he made a little circular motion around Snape with his wand and cast an Imperturbable charm. Now Snape couldn't hear what was going to be said, just in case.

"Well, Headmaster, I hope you're happy with all this, not to mention all the abuse I and almost every other student has ever suffered under this git in class. Plus he injured and almost killed me tonight, as well as tried to do the same to Ginny. In my opinion, every plan you have going in the Order should be consider compromised." He was almost sure he heard a muttered "Damn straight" from Moody but he wasn't positive.

"I'll also have you know that I'm not going back to," he suddenly remembered Sprout sitting there before he could say Grimmauld, "headquarters, even _if_ another Fidelius Charm was done. And if you can let things get this compromised, I don't want to join the Order now either. Should you decide I need to know something, tell Tonks; she can pass it along. In the meantime, I'll keep working to take on Voldemort since he won't leave me alone. I guess I'll just have to hope and pray the Order will help out as needed, or at least some of them will." Dumbledore did not meet his scathing look.

With an almost casual voice, Harry spoke to the group. "Well, it seems there's only one question left to answer, what to do with this piece of trash. Ginny and I seem to be of the opinion that the giant spiders in the forest need a snack, but I'm willing to feed the giant squid too, unless there is some other creature you're aware of that need Snape's company more." That got their attention.

It was no surprise that McGonagall was the first to speak. "Harry, you really don't want to do that."

"Actually, I do. A part of me would prefer it to be a very painful death for him, but I'm willing to be civil and make it quick."

Now Tonks joined in. "Harry, you really shouldn't do that."

For Harry, it was more than revenge, though he thought that would be sweet. "Tonks, I would think you would be one of the ones encouraging me. Look at all the escapees from Azkaban; it's like they have a revolving door there. I don't want him to come back to hurt us again. He's too good at it." There was a look of understanding on Mad-Eye's face, and he knew Mad-Eye would go with him.

Tonks was still against it. "Harry, I'm really not supposed to tell you this, but for your own good, I think I will. We've got a new device called 'The Collar'. The idea came from a Muggle movie if you can believe it. Once it's put on, if the wearer ever goes more than a mile from the key, it instantly contracts to the size of a finger ring." Harry gulped at that thought. "The key is closely guarded and hidden. I'm not totally sure but I think they're even invisible to all but a few Aurors who use the spell to see them for a few seconds at a time. The collars can't be charmed off either without activating them. Since we started using them about a month ago, we've had no escapes, though we've had two deaths from trying." Harry considered that carefully as she paused for him to think.

"Harry," Tonks pleaded, "I'll promise on whatever you like that he'll get the collar before he leaves the castle while he's awaiting trial as a Death Eater and the deaths he's caused. I'll get a team of Aurors to go over all of Snape's things to find out his secrets and anything else we can use to our advantage to keep you and your friends safe. If that's not enough, please don't do it for me. Killing in defense of someone is one thing, what you're discussing is another. But if none of that matters, please don't do it because of what it will do to you, and what Ginny will think of you."

Harry had never thought of it like that. He turned to Ginny with a "What will you think?" look. Ginny took the half step towards him as if she was going to hug him, but instead she reached up and threaded her fingers through his hair to literally hold his attention. "Harry," she whispered, "you know I'll always love you no matter what. I know you can feel that."

He knew exactly what she meant, he could feel her love. It was there as strong as ever and he reveled in it, and used it to calm himself. Yet deep down, he also felt something else in her. Looking into her eyes and focusing on their bond, he felt it again and identified it. It was a small nugget of doubt or uncertainty. He didn't know about what, he wondered if she even did, but there was something there marring her love for him that hadn't been there earlier.

Tonks watched the two young people stare at each other intimately, sharing something only the two of them knew. Tonks knew there was some sort of link between them, but this made her wonder what was really there. She wondered if there was more they hadn't told about when asked about their awareness.

Finally Harry looked at her and said, "OK, Tonks, I'll do it your way, he's all yours. I'm holding you to your promises, everything you said." Tonks was so relieved all she could do was nod, though his next sentence chilled her. "But if he ever escapes and I catch him, he'll disappear and no one will ever know."

Tonks only nodded again, and no one else said anything. Who could blame him for having that feeling?

Harry seemed to waver on his feet and a grimace filled his face. Ginny pulled her hands down and put them around his waist to help hold him up. She felt the tingle as her hand touched his side where his jumper and shirt had ridden up. As he got control over himself again he announced to the room at large, "If you'll excuse me, I really need to go visit Madam Pomfrey." They slowly made their way out.

As they neared the door, Ginny felt a wave of mischievousness from him, but couldn't understand why he had it. She looked up at him as he leaned down slightly to whisper in her ear, "Wait just a second." She gave him a questioning look, but all he said was, "Just for a second." His hand and wand snapped out and she heard him mutter "_Stupefy_". Only because she'd seen where he was aiming did she see it hit Snape, and with their amplified power no less. As everyone but Tonks and Moody was looking at them, they didn't see the bolt hit, though it was obviously going to be for Snape. Tonks and Moody, who were both contemplating their new prisoner, saw it hit Snape in his privates and a brief look of something beyond shock come over the prisoner's face before he slumped against his ropes.

"Was it really necessary to stun him, Harry?" McGonagall asked, who was oblivious as to where the spell had hit Snape. "He was already tied up."

"Just making sure he wasn't going anywhere for awhile, Professor. I wanted the Auror team to have plenty of time to get here," he replied.

McGonagall gave him a look of disapproval but let that topic go. "Mr. Potter, while we are all shocked this would happen to you or any other student, I trust there will be no repeat of dousing one of your professors with a restricted potion?" Her stern expression indicated there was only one correct answer.

"As I don't expect any of the other current professors to try and kill me, I can agree to that," he told her with a hint of contrition for his heavy handedness tonight.

She seemed to understand and nodded to him.

With his reprimand done, he turned them around with his good arm on Ginny's shoulders for support and left.

When they had walked down the hallway to the bottom of the stairs, Ginny finally couldn't take it anymore and scolded him. "Harry Potter, do you know how unfair that was?"

Harry wasn't sure how to respond to that because her harsh words did not match the feeling of mirth he got from her. So he decided to follow the words. "Snape deserved that and more for all he's done to me over the years."

"Yes, of course he does, but it was still unfair."

He was still confused but tried to continue to play along. "OK, why was it unfair?"

"Because I didn't get to do it too." Now her suppressed laughter finally came out.

Harry chuckled with her, though that started hurting his arm. "You're my kind of woman, Ginny."

"You got that right, Potter." She helped him up the steps. "Did you see Tonks after you shot that spell?"

"Yeah, I thought she was going choke and pass out from trying to hold her laughter in. Moody wasn't much better off."

Ginny chuckled with him.

Harry continued up to the hospital wing when a disturbing thought come into his mind. Now that he knew what the Death Eater's goals were for him and Ginny, and how serious Malfoy was about his future, Harry definitely didn't want Ginny going anywhere alone for the rest of the term. And that applied to him too.

* * *

The adults all looked at one another as they heard the two students walk down hall. No one said anything until the footsteps had faded to nothing. Because of the silence, Tonks' normal voice saying "_Communis_ _Patronum_" seemed like a shout.

"Who was that to?" The hoarse voice was barely recognizable as Dumbledore's.

"Kingsley. I told him to bring a collar and a full investigative team. I'm keeping my promises. That's one young man, or rather one young couple, I never want to have to fight for real." Then with less seriousness, she added, "Training him is painful enough." The two of them beat Tonks and Cobb with ease every time now. Lupin was about to join those sessions to make it more fair, then they might have a small chance of beating Harry and Ginny.

"I'd really like to keep this out of the news," Dumbledore said wishfully.

McGonagall now spoke up. "That Snape has been arrested and sacked? Not a chance. As to why? Maybe. It will probably depend on Minister Bones." Minerva thought there was a decent chance that Minister Bones would help keep the real reason quiet, but she wasn't sure. "Once the trial starts, it will all come out. The Board of Governors will have a field day with this one." Her voice was heavy with sarcasm and there were lots of nodding heads on that one.

Finally Moody couldn't keep quiet any longer. "Albus, why didn't you test Snape with Veritaserum at the beginning? Damn! Why didn't I try it?"

Everyone was looking at Dumbledore, awaiting his answer. There was a long silence and Moody was beginning to wonder if Dumbledore didn't hear him or was ignoring him to get out of answering the obviously critical question. In more whisper than anything else, Dumbledore finally spoke. "He was so sincere when he begged me for a second chance. He let me go into his mind and search. All I saw was horror and regret of what he'd done, of what had happened to him. I never saw any other shields blocking any other thoughts." Though they didn't hear any sobs, they all saw tears trickle down the old man's cheeks as he came to grips with the enormity of his mistake.

"Albus," McGonagall said softly, "do you have anyone in mind we can get on short notice to finish teaching Potions for the rest of the term?"

"Yes, that will need to be a priority. I can think of one or two. I'll give you their names first thing in the morning. Minerva, can I ask you to please speak with Professor Sinistra about being the Slytherin Head of House for the last few months?"

"Certainly."

"And take over running the school for a few days? I need to think about all this most carefully..." Dumbledore seemed to fade along with his request.

"I understand," the Deputy Headmistress told him.

"Alastor?" Dumbledore didn't raise his voice from the loud whisper, almost as if he couldn't. "Will you please assume leadership of the Order for a while?"

"I can," the old Auror told him.

"Please discuss all this. I'll abide by whatever the group decides to do." Mad-Eye acknowledged with a nod. "And Alastor, Mr. Potter is quite correct that we should consider everything we're doing compromised. You'll need to let everyone know that tonight so all contacts, passwords, and assignments can be changed before morning when word of Severus' incarceration gets out."

"I'll take care of it, Albus," Moody told him.

"Thank you all for your help in this troubled time. If you need me, I'll be in my quarters or somewhere nearby where an owl can find me. I bid you all a good night and I'll see you in three or four days." The Headmaster arose and slowly walked from the classroom. There was no twinkle in his eye, none of his power; Minerva thought she'd never see him look frail, but he did look it for the first time. No one spoke for several minutes.

For the first time that evening, Flitwick spoke up. "Minerva, what is to be done about Mr. Malfoy? I'm most concerned about the safety of the students. The fact that Mr. Potter asked specifically about him is most significant, I would say."

"We can't really do anything about him, Filius. He hasn't done anything warranting expulsion or even suspension," Minerva explained. "We could encourage him to transfer to Durmstrang, but we can't really force that until next year, and even that might be difficult given the Malfoy connections."

Flitwick nodded in understanding. "I'm still left wondering exactly what we can do to prevent problems. Knowing the past difficulties between Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Potter, and how Mr. Malfoy likes to bait Mr. Potter, I'd say the probability is very high there will be an incident between them before the year is finished. Should the baiting, as it were, be directed at Ms. Weasley, I do not believe any of us in this room could stop Mr. Potter, if his work in my class is any indication of his real capabilities. Your statement, Ms. Tonks, would support that view." Tonks nodded in agreement. "While I wish no harm to any student, I most especially do not want Mr. Potter to get into trouble with the law considering what he must do, or at least what I guess he must do based on his history over the last few years."

Tonks thought she was the only one left in the room that knew the complete prophecy, but it didn't take a genius to guess the gist of it. The difficult thing was, as much as she agreed with what Flitwick had just said, she also didn't know what to do about Draco Malfoy, short of doing something to him herself; and that really wasn't an option either.

"I will have Professor Sinistra speak with him about leaving Harry and his friends alone, or face expulsion," McGonagall temporized. "We'll also discuss this at a staff meeting tomorrow. Perhaps a good idea can be found. If not, then at least all the teachers can be made aware of the situation and watch both of them more closely, as well as watch out for Ms. Weasley."

Whatever else McGonagall was going to say was interrupted by Kingsley Shacklebolt and seven other Aurors coming into the classroom. One of them looked at the door and gave a low whistle at the destruction. What grabbed Shacklebolt's attention was the man in ropes. "It's true then, our worst fear was true."

Tonks nodded and said cheekily, "Right in one. But it's not really my worst fear, because the Boy-Who-Lived is still alive, so I'm good." Shacklebolt just shook his head as he took in the rest of the battle scene, with debris and curse scorch marks all over the room. The professors got up to leave and take care of the school, while Tonks and Moody filled in the Auror team with what happened to get them started on their work.

By the time the story was finished the collar was locked on Snape. As the key holder was about to Portkey back to a maximum security holding cell, Tonks stopped him with a warning, "He's probably going to be quite pissed off when he wakes up, so I wouldn't be anywhere near him when that happens."

The Unspeakable who was the key holder shrugged. "I don't plan to be, but that's his tough luck from what you told me. Perhaps we can arrange it so he can try to escape, minus his key of course." The man smiled at his own joke. "I bet that would make Potter and a large number of other people quite happy." Tonks grinned evilly as the man and his prisoner Portkeyed out.

* * *

.


	21. Revenge

Version: 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

**Chapter 21: Revenge**

Harry's broken arm was well healed by the time the last set of Quidditch games were played in late April. Ravenclaw versus Hufflepuff would be the last game of the year, but neither team had a shot at the title. The Quidditch Cup would be decided in the Gryffindor and Slytherin game, both of whom were undefeated for the year.

The entire Gryffindor team knew it would be a physically rough game. They'd watched the other Slytherin games. Crabbe and Goyle were especially brutal as the Slytherin Beaters. So the Creevey brothers decided they'd pick one of the goons and always target him. Perhaps that would help. However, Harry knew that the key to winning the game would be for him to find the Snitch fast enough so no one got hurt and his team had to play short handed.

It took Harry almost fifty-five painfully long minutes to catch a Snitch that seemed to want to hide. To his dismay, the Slytherin Beaters seemed to always target Ginny. Without her Firebolt and incredible flying skill, which was put to the test, she would certainly have been in the hospital wing before the game was over. As it was, she only got a couple of bruises in their 310-20 win, which included many penalty goals. It was hard to tell who was happier, Professor McGonagall or Katie Bell. Harry was just glad the game was over and wrapped Ginny in a hug, all the while keeping an eye on a very angry Draco Malfoy.

Ginny and Harry were the last ones to go back to the locker rooms to change, so they were also the last ones there. For once, Ginny was ready before Harry was. She'd just sat down on a bench in the main team area when Harry came out of the boys' side.

Harry walked over before she could get up and sat beside her, wrapping his arms around her. "Have I told you recently how beautiful you are?" he murmured into her ear and his mouth started coming down the side of her neck in light kisses.

She groaned and breathed a husky, "No, not recently," though he had done so that morning on the way to the game. She loved it when he paid attention to her like this. In fact, over the last few weeks, she'd found it was getting harder and harder to stop at snogging. The feelings she was receiving from him just incited her more.

Feeling bolder for some reason, she grabbed his shoulders and pulled him over to her as she lay backwards on the bench. Harry ended up falling on top of her and momentarily pinning her to the bench. Unfortunately, he hadn't been ready for her movement and he lost his balance. He fell to the floor with a thud and with her on top of him. "Ah," he groaned, but it wasn't from pleasure.

"Harry?" Ginny was surprised and even a little worried she'd hurt him. She scrambled to get off him and crawled up by his head. "Harry, are you OK? Did I hurt you?"

"I'm - I'm fine," he breathlessly told her. "Just got the wind knocked out of me, I think." Struggling a little, he took two deep breaths before continuing. "Let me lay here a minute."

"Oh Harry, I'm so sorry. I really didn't mean to hurt you."

He smiled and looked up at her. "'S 'K, I liked you on top of me, actually."

With a mischievous grin, she told him, "I really did too," then her face fell. "I can't believe I just said that."

A breathless laugh escaped him. "Come on Gin, what's the surprise? We both know exactly how we feel about each other. I love you, you love me. One day we'll love each other in that other special way. I promise I'll never push you to do anything you don't want, but you're so wonderful and beautiful that I can't help but want to do more with you."

Ginny gave him a resigned smile. While she appreciated him admitting exactly how he felt, she was also a little bit scared too. Boys seemed to want to be physical faster than girls, and yet, she wanted to become physical with him too. Actually, she was starting to desire it so much it was becoming harder to suppress those feelings, and she was beginning to wonder if something was wrong with her.

"Look Ginny, I know this is hard for us, at least it is for me. But no matter how hard it gets to wait, no matter how much pressure the bond puts on us, I will wait for you for as long as I have to." With a smirk he tacked on, "Or at least I will if it's at all possible."

"Of course, the bond!" Her eyebrows went up in surprise as she finally realised the answer.

"What, you forgot about our bond?" He now looked surprised too.

"No silly boy, I only forgot that the bond is the reason I feel so compelled to do things with you." Now she smiled. "And now that I know, I can deal with it better; but Harry, this is still going to be difficult. I feel your love and it makes me love you even more; and well, it makes me want to do things with you that I know my mum wouldn't approve of."

"I understand, I'm sure that your mum wouldn't approve of what I want to do with you either," he told her with a smirk on his face and a couple wiggles of his eyebrows, which caused her to whack him on the arm. "I really mean it, Gin, you're so important to me, I will make myself wait for you until you're ready."

"Thank you, Harry. You don't know how much that means to me." She leaned down and gave him a soft kiss, which turned into a much deeper kiss.

"Gin," he groaned after a few moments.

With difficulty, she pulled back. "Sorry, Harry. See, it's so easy to get carried away. Well, let's get up and go outside for a walk. Maybe that will help calm us down." She stood and helped him up. Leaving the locker room, they headed toward the lake hand in hand.

* * *

After a couple of hours, the couple decided to go back into the castle as it was nearing time for dinner. Along the way, they came across Ron and Hermione, who'd also been out walking. As they reached the main castle doors, Harry and Ginny were a little ways in front of their friends, so they waited hand in hand at the entrance for Ron and Hermione to catch up to them. As the other couple caught up, Harry turned to go in just in time to see a dark orange spell hit Ginny full on the body. Without thinking, he flung his bare left hand out and banished whoever it was as far away as possible. Before Ginny had even hit the floor, Draco Malfoy was sailing backwards down the corridor.

Professors Flitwick and Sinistra were coming out of a side hallway right as Malfoy went flying by, not in a high arc like a thrown ball, but in almost a straight line. After flying nearly fifty feet, Draco hit a suit of armor and tumbled to the floor where he did not move again.

"Impressive!" Flitwick squeaked as the boy flew by him, though he did cringe when Draco landed. Looking at his colleague, "You get Mr. Malfoy to Poppy, I'll see to Mr. Potter." Professor Sinistra agreed and hurried to the boy from her house. "I was so afraid this was going to happen," Flitwick muttered as he hurried the other direction. When he arrived at Harry's location, he saw Ginny was the one injured. "What happened, Mr. Potter?"

Seeing a Gryffindor third year standing nearby who'd been attracted by the commotion, Harry yelled to him, "Daniel! Run to the great hall and see if Madam Pomfrey is there. If she is, tell her there's an emergency in the hospital wing. Go!"

Harry then scooped up Ginny into his arms, "Malfoy did this. Got to get her to the hospital wing." He ran with the girl in his arms. Flitwick turned to the two sixth year Gryffindor prefects and again asked what happened.

She was heavier than she looked, Harry thought. Still, he'd carry her forever if required. And if she died, Malfoy wouldn't survive either. He didn't care about what would happen to himself legally afterwards as Healer Davies words about their tied lives came to his mind.

Finally arriving at the hospital wing, Harry kicked the double doors open with his booted foot as he took her in. "Madam Pomfrey!" he yelled.

The nurse came out from behind a screen. Seeing Ginny in his arms, she pointed at a bed, "Put her in that one, I'll be there in a minute."

"Malfoy can wait, she's dying!" Harry really had his choice of beds, so he picked the one in the corner, the better to defend and watch the rest of the room he thought.

Madam Pomfrey did indeed abandon Draco to come look at Ginny. She waved her wand over the girl and did not like what she found. "I'm sorry, Harry, I think it's too late."

"NO!" he shouted at her. "She's not dead!" He could still feel the tingle when he touched her; and her feelings were so faint it had taken him almost the entire time coming to this wing to find her in him, but they were there. He hated to do this, but he decided to lie to her. "I saw her chest move, she's just breathing very slowly." He was so scared for her.

Dumbledore came walking in very quickly. "What happened?" Harry quickly relayed the short story. "Harry, this is very important. Did you notice what color the spell was?"

"Yes, it was very dark, but not quite completely black. It was like it had tongues of flame on it or something." Though he didn't like Dumbledore very much right now, Harry still respected the man's knowledge.

"Hmm, that could be any one of several spells. Poppy, who is the best you know with spell damage cases?"

"Healer Davies." It was Harry who'd answered. "He said we could call him if we needed. Please call him right now! Please hurry!" he begged. Dumbledore nodded and the nurse turned for her office and its Floo.

Harry held Ginny's left hand tightly. Searching for her again, he pushed as many of his feelings of love for her through their bond as he could. In what seemed like hours but was only a little more than five minutes, the nurse returned with the old healer in khaki pants and a very vibrant shirt with flowers all over it.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, I understand Ms. Weasley has been injured. Can you tell me what happened?" The calm grandfatherly man steadied Harry more than he knew.

Harry looked up at the Headmaster and the nurse, "Please, just us?"

Dumbledore nodded and gestured for Pomfrey to leave as well. "Perhaps you should look after Mr. Malfoy at this time, Poppy." Harry could tell she wanted to stay, but the nurse also knew the Headmaster was correct. As they left, Harry pulled out his wand and cast an Imperturbable charm on the area around the bed.

Healer Davies was doing a diagnostic spell on his patient. When he finished, Harry told him what happened, along with the color of the spell. The healer nodded as he listened. "How do you feel, Harry?"

"Mostly all right. I'll be better when I calm down and she's better."

"Hmm," the healer looked thoughtful, then he did a diagnostic spell on Harry. "Yes, I should have expected that."

"What?"

He looked Harry in the eyes. "Are you familiar with the potion called the Draught of Living Death?" The boy nodded. "I believe the young lady has been hit with the spell variation of that. Somehow, part of the spell went through your bond and you have a small piece of it too, although not enough to slow you down much. If it was just her, I could fix this easily; but since it is split between you, that makes it much more difficult."

"Can it be reversed?" Harry was trying to stay calm, but it was very hard. In fact, he found he was squeezing her hand and hoped he hadn't hurt her.

Davies smiled at him. "All spells can be reversed Harry, except for the Killing Curse. The only questions are how hard it is to do and can the reversal be accomplished before too much damage has been done. Fortunately, this spell won't rush us too much; the complication is that its power is split between the two of you."

The man sat there for a few minutes thinking. "Harry, would you please let go of her hand for a moment." Harry did and the healer redid the diagnostic spell. "Most interesting. Harry, when the spell hit her, were you touching her in some way or just near her?"

"I was holding her hand." He started debating with himself about what abilities of the bond he might need to share and how Ginny would feel about that.

"Yes, that would make sense. All right Harry, I think I know what to do. If you'll pardon me, I need to go retrieve a medical book. This is a spell I haven't seen since Healer school, and that was a long time ago."

Harry swallowed and told him, "As fast as you can please."

"Don't worry, Harry. This spell has no real negative side effects and we have several days to fix this, though I should be back in about ten minutes. The real problem with this spell is for it to be put on someone unknowingly such that they are thought dead and are buried before death takes them a few days later." Harry looked at him with a horrified expression. The healer nodded and then left.

To Harry it was the longest ten minutes of his life, but the healer did return with a very old looking, thick book, with his finger in it about one third of the way through. "Poppy was aghast when I showed her the spell that had been used, rightfully so of course." Harry watched him put the privacy spell back up before reading the page in the book and practicing the spell with only his right hand moving in a complicated motion. Davies did that three times before he set the book down.

"Now Mr. Potter, if you will hold her hand just like you were when the spell hit her, I shall cast the reversal. Of course, this shall add another page to my secret file on you. I really do hope you let me publish that some day. Ready?"

Harry was holding her left hand with his right, just as they had been when they walked through the doorway almost an hour ago. He nodded for Davies to get on with it.

Pulling out his wand, the healer went through the complicated motion and spoke the magical phrase. Harry was watching Ginny closely, but he felt her come back before her first breath and almost crushed her with a hug. "Ginny," he started crying. The healer really wanted to do a diagnostic spell on the girl, but he could see her breathing and the boy seemed to know she had returned to him. That made him wonder that much more about their bond. There was definitely an extra awareness there. He would give them a few minutes first. In the meantime, he would see whoever Poppy was working on before he came back for a quick check, then returned to his party.

Walking around the screen, Healer Davies saw the pale boy with white-blonde hair, and recognized him immediately as the boy he'd treated a few months earlier. He had a real dilemma now, to help or not to help. After a few seconds, he decided a middle ground was possible, so he quietly walked back out and found a chair. If there was a problem, Poppy would call for him and he'd fix life threatening injuries. Beyond that, he didn't plan to offer his skills to that arrogant little bigot.

Ginny wrapped her arms around Harry too. She had to struggle a bit to breath, but when she felt the overwhelming relief in him as well as recognizing the hospital wing, she easily forgave him and enjoyed his joy.

Healer Davies came in and she recognized him immediately. "Good evening. Are you feeling better, Ms. Weasley?"

"I'm just fine. Was there something wrong with me?"

He did another diagnostic spell on her when Harry pulled back, then one on the young man too. "Excellent! You're both back to perfect health. Another two for the _healed_ category. I'll leave all the explanations to your young man here." She blushed at that but Harry beamed. "I'll return to my party and let you two enjoy your time together. You can leave anytime you feel up to it."

The two teens thanked him profusely as he left. Harry looked at her and was so thankful she was alive and healthy once more. He never wanted her hurt again. When she asked again what happened, he told her, though his voice started breaking as he told what it'd been like as she didn't seem to be alive. He hugged her tight again while she rubbed and patted his back. After a few minutes he got his composure back, though she felt something change in him, maybe a little bit less of him like there was some interference in their bond.

"What's wrong, Harry?"

"I'm wondering if I'm doing the wrong thing, maybe I shouldn't be with you. I mean I was with you and you still got hurt, I'll only get you hurt again. Maybe we need to break up, Ginny."

Ginny could still feel his love for her and knew he was only confused at the moment, but it still hurt her to hear that and she wanted to hex his bits off for saying it to her. Well, not really she thought, she wanted to experience that part of life with him too, perhaps something a little less drastic to make him see reason again and stop being stupid and trying to be noble.

"Harry, do you really think you can walk away from me?" She tried to keep her voice level as if she was really thinking it through.

"Yes," but he wouldn't look at her, and she felt his emotions say 'no' at the lie.

That gave her an idea. "Tell me Harry, can you stand seeing me with another man? Because eventually that would happen if you let me go." Ginny did her best to hide her real feelings by studying her hands. His feelings started to waver. Yes, this was the tact to take she thought and she worked on that some more.

"You know, Harry," she pointed out to him, "if you let me go, one day my new boyfriend and I would kiss and you'll feel my joy in that. We would someday marry too. Could you live through my feelings of love for another man?" It was cruel she knew, but what he needed to hear, to be reminded of their bond. "Truthfully?"

He silently crashed on the inside. "You know I can't," he admitted to her with a sob almost in his voice. "I can't live without you," he barely got out through his emotion.

She smiled on the inside. "So tell me how you really feel." Ginny wanted to hear his words to make it all better. Since he'd said the hurtful words, he had to undo them.

Feeling the resolve within him, she saw him look at her with tears starting to well in his eyes. "Ginny, I'm so sorry. I didn't really mean it because I can't live without you - ever." She felt his deep love for her clearly again and couldn't stop herself from crying too.

Getting her voice back, she ran her fingers through his black hair and gave him a teary smile. "Thank you for realising that; but don't you _ever_ think you should leave me again."

He nodded. "I never want to make the same mistake again, so even though this probably isn't the best place to ask, I will. Ginevra Molly Weasley, will you marry me?"

She pulled him into a crushing hug when she heard the words she'd dreamed of hearing for years. No, it wasn't the most romantic place, but she didn't care. "Yes Harry, I'll love you for now and for always."

Madam Pomfrey had finished stabilizing Draco Malfoy and checked in on Ginny to find the two of them in a tight embrace. Smiling to herself that that was probably the best medicine for both Ginny and Harry after this ordeal, she quietly withdrew.

* * *

For the next several days after the attack on Ginny, Hermione noticed that Ginny and Harry seemed to spend a little more time together. It was also obvious they were having more than their average number of "private" conversations. She almost wished she hadn't given Harry the idea, but she knew it could be very useful during the war.

Hermione was settling back down to her research. She had a very promising lead on one of Harry's questions. Sitting at her usual table in the common room studying after dinner, Ron came through the portrait doorway with a smile fit to burst his face. He practically ran to her. "Hey Hermione! Did you hear the news!"

"No Ron, nothing special lately, why?"

"Malfoy's outta here!" he whooped.

His girlfriend brightened at that news. "For good?"

"Yes, he's been expelled. Going to Durmstrang next year. He's also been suspended for the rest of this year as soon as he gets out of the hospital wing." Ron was jubilant.

"Wow, that's going to help Harry feel easier about being here. That is good news, Ron."

"One bad spot, he gets to return for the last two weeks so he can take his end of year exams, though I heard he's to be confined to his dorm if he isn't taking an exam, still no Malfoy and no Snape - the world is looking up!"

"You'll have to restart Potions tomorrow, you know, Ron." They'd had a free study period for the class yesterday since there was no teacher. "I heard from Professor McGonagall the new Potions teacher arrived this afternoon."

"Can't be worse than Snape, can he?" Ron was wondering if he could bring his borderline failing grade up in time to get something decent for his end of the year grade.

"No, I suppose not. It could be a she though, you never know," she teased him. Ron shrugged. "I'll think I'll go tell Harry. Want to come?" Ron smiled at her and held out his hand for her. They walked to the training room where the other two had said they'd be studying: him for his four NEWTs coming up and her for her five OWLs.

Opening the door, they found the couple not studying but with their heads close together and looking at a magazine. Hermione looked at the cover and noticed it was a Quidditch Supplies catalog. "That's not studying!" she informed them.

Ginny looked up, "No, just taking a short break." Harry closed the magazine but kept it in his hand. That made Hermione suspicious, but they were surrounded by many notes and books, so they had been studying at one time.

"Got some good news for you two!" Ron announced. He told them about the departing of Draco Malfoy. That did brighten Harry's day; Ginny was glad too. After talking about it for a few minutes, Hermione and Ron left.

Harry pulled the magazine back out. "I'm glad you thought of putting an extra cover on it Ginny."

"Oldest trick in the book Harry," she told him. "I learned it from the twins." They laughed as Harry turned back to the page they were on before. "I like this setting best with the large central diamond, but I think the surrounding little stones should be emeralds not rubies. That will remind me of you."

"All right, I can deal with that. These matching ones over here for the wedding rings?" he suggested.

"Yes, I think so."

"Finally - it only took us three days to decide." He sounded slightly exasperated; she only giggled at him and kissed his cheek. "Dobby! I need your help." The little elf popped in.

"Harry Potter Sir! How can Dobby help you and his Wheezy?" That always made Ginny blush slightly for some reason.

Ripping the catalog page out, he handed it to Dobby. "Dobby, I need an errand." Dobby was only too glad to help. "I want these items here," he pointed them out, "but tell the jeweler to change the rubies to his best emeralds; and we want an auto-sizing spell on all of them."

"Yes Harry Sir! I'll do it first thing in the morning."

"Great, you can get my money bag out of my trunk, and put it and the rings there too when they're ready. Again, Dobby, this is a secret; no one is to know who you're buying this for."

"I understand, Harry Sir. Dobby is happy for you and the miss." With a big smile, he popped back out.

"He's pretty handy to have around," Ginny told him. "I wonder if we can hire him away for our house?"

"I think that would be pretty easy. Somehow we seem to have a connection," he told her as he thought about them in a house by themselves.

She picked up on his feelings and agreed with them. "We can talk about this later, Harry." She reached up and grabbed his face to pull it to her, still enjoying the tingle of touching him.

"Ginny," he finally said after several long kisses, "we're supposed to be revising for our big tests."

She nibbled on his ear, which sent chills through him. "They're only our OWLs and NEWTs, Harry." She laughed a deep throaty laugh in his ear.

His hands caressed her back. "You're right, it's only our future." He didn't stop touching her though.

"Spoilsport," she chided him and then finally let him go so she could find her Transfiguration notes. "You know I could skip the OWLs for this and just take the NEWT."

"Yes, I know you're that good, but let's not give that away either. Make your Outstanding, and save the rest." He advised her. "When our task is done, you can shine like the star you are." She beamed at him and somehow loved him more.

* * *

Saturday night at dinner, Harry told Hermione and Ron that he had a small project for them he wanted to discuss; but he wouldn't say what it was other than saying they should meet him at the Room of Requirement in an hour. Ginny didn't seem to know either as she also asked what was up. He told her to be patient; she harrumphed at that.

As soon as they were done eating, Harry helped a perplexed Ginny up and walked her back to the tower. On the way, he stopped by Colin Creevey and whispered something to him, which caused the lad to beam as he said, "Sure thing, Harry."

When they reached the tower, part of Harry's secret came out. "You have one hour to get dressed up for a special date. The light blue dress would be good, but pick whatever you want to look nice in. I'm going to change into my formal dress robes."

Ginny's eyes went round at that. "An hour?! Harry, I need at least two to even come close to doing a good job."

He sighed. "Ginny, you're a witch. Use magic, now be back down here in an hour, or I'll have to find a way to come up there and bring you down." He gave her a quick kiss and went up the stairs. She stared at him for a moment before she started running up to her dorm.

She was about to go into her room when she saw Lavender Brown was coming down from the sixth year dorm room. "Lavender, come help me quick, emergency!"

"What's up, Ginny?"

"Harry's taking me on some special date and I've only got an hour to get ready. Can you do my hair?" Ginny grabbed Lavender's arm and pulled her in without waiting for an answer.

An hour later, Ginny looked at her watch as she felt impatience from Harry. "Done up there?" she asked her friend.

"Yes, that should do."

Ginny got up from the vanity and stood in front of the full length mirror. _Pretty good for only an hour_, she thought. _Last time for this dress too_, she believed. It was stretched as tight as it was going to go over her hips, she was nearing sixteen. "Thanks, Lav! You're a lifesaver." Her friend wished her well as Ginny went down the stairs to the waiting Harry.

Harry could feel her moving and knew she was finally coming. Then he saw her, and she was ... ravishing! How did he get so lucky to win someone like her, he wondered yet again.

"Well, how do I look for only an hour's worth of work?"

"I'm the luckiest man alive to have you, Ginny. You're beautiful on both the inside and the outside." He took a full length cloak off his arm and draped it around her. "This will make you slightly less conspicuous as we travel." Her long hair was piled high on her head in an intricate style and would attract attention no matter what.

"You look very handsome yourself, Harry." He smiled as he put on a matching cloak. Offering her his arm, he escorted her out the portrait door.

She wondered where they were going. The many portraits on the wall seemed to be pointing at them and discussing them. That applied to the students who saw them as well, though most of the girls got a far away look in their eyes when they saw the couple. Ginny had to contain her little fits of jealousy at times, which Harry found amusing when he felt them.

They went to the seventh floor and arrived at the Room of Requirement, where they found Ron, Hermione, and Colin with his camera. Ginny started to suspect what was up but wasn't totally sure. All she could feel from Harry was lots of happiness. Harry walked back and forth thinking hard and the door appeared. Going inside, they found the restaurant setting on the cliff by the fake ocean under moonlight again, though there were a few more flowers around this time.

"Awesome setting!" Colin exclaimed.

At that, Harry turned to the photographer. "Colin, you remember what you promised right?"

"Yes Harry. This is a most sensitive secret not to be revealed even under threat of death, or I'll wish I'd been born a toad." His enthusiasm hadn't dampened one whit upon saying that.

"And ..." Harry prompted.

"Oh yeah, no copies to anyone else, and you get the negatives to make sure."

"Very good." Harry handed him a small bag that jingled, which was quickly pocketed.

"Why are we here?" Hermione asked.

"Because you both are our best friends, and I thought you'd like to be witnesses." Turning around he took off his cloak and helped Ginny remove hers before hanging them on a conveniently available coat rack. Taking her hand, he walked her over to the rail at the edge of the cliff near a wall of flowers.

Ginny knew what was coming, she could still feel his love and now his nervousness, and yet the will to go on no matter what. Watching him reach into his pocket for something and bending down on one knee confirmed it.

"Ginny, you are the love of my life and I know I can never live without you." She knew how literally true that was too. "Will you stay with me forever until death do us part - will you marry me?"

Tears were welling in her eyes as she looked down at him, the most wonderful man she could ever imagine. "Yes Harry, I will stay with you forever and always, until death do us part." She felt more than saw the ring being slipped on her finger. He rose and pulled her into a hug and kiss that somehow seemed more special than any other she'd received from him.

Parting, Harry told her simply, "I love you, Ginny."

"I love you too, Harry."

It took them awhile to remember others were there. Ron and Hermione were standing there with arms around the other's waist. Hermione looked to have been silently crying with a smile on her face. Ron looked happy for them, yet thoughtful. Colin was busy snapping away, and Harry was glad to he'd asked the camera bug there, as well as asked him not to use a flash or he'd be blind now he was sure.

Hermione wanted to see the ring, and Colin got a picture of her looking at it too. Then Harry took out his wand and did a complicated motion above it before he tapped the ring. Hermione gasped, "It's gone."

"No it's not, it's right there," Ginny told her. Harry smiled.

"You did a glamour on it so only she could see it, didn't you Harry?" Hermione accused him.

Actually, Harry could see it too. "For Ginny's safety, yes. We will also not be married until after the war, but now I won't ever forget the most important person in the world to me." He looked at her and they shared a smile and a thought. Harry laughed at her which really puzzled Colin, though Hermione understood they'd been sharing thoughts again. "If you three would excuse us, we'd like to finish our date in a more private setting." The three friends congratulated the couple and promised not to tell anyone as they left.

* * *

Draco arrived at Malfoy Mansion a week after he'd entered the hospital with lots of broken bones and massive internal injuries, not to mention the concussion and fractured skull. He'd barely set foot in the door when his mother told him to follow her. In a secret room in their basement, he found his father who was still in hiding. Draco couldn't ever remember a tongue lashing like the one he was receiving now, and he'd had a few.

"Do you realize what you have done?" his father sneered at him after several minutes of describing his faults in harsh terms. "By being suspended from school you've put my entire plan at risk, and that has made the Dark Lord most unhappy, Draco. If it wasn't for our family ties, you wouldn't have been able to go back and take your exams. Now, not only will you figure out how to make sure the final attempt of my plan happens, but this evening, we will go see the Dark Lord for you to personally explain how it's going to work and why he should forgive your hotheaded behaviour." Draco's eyes widened at that. "Yes, you should fear him, but you must also not show it when you explain it all to him."

As Lucius Malfoy sent his son away, he looked at the boy carefully. "Better make sure your actions from last week are very believable Draco, or I suspect you'll be introduced to the Dark Lord's favorite spell." As Draco went to his room to think and plan, he started hoping his body was healed enough to withstand the pain.

* * *

(A/N 2013: Before anyone writes me to point out how I've ignored something in the books, please remember this was originally written before book6 came out.)

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	22. Final Exams

Version: 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

_(A/N 2006: Momentum is an important concept in this chapter. If you've had high school physics, it will be obvious. If you haven't, consider what would happen if you jumped out of a car at high speed - or it's reverse of being hit by a high speed object while you're standing still. That's the concept that is being dealt with. To tie that to the story, consider that magic is about overcoming the laws of physics to make something special happen. So if there is no magic, the laws of physics apply; or if the magic stops, the normal laws of physics will resume.)_

**Chapter 22: Final Exams**

As the first week of May was ending, Harry and Ginny were in the common room revising for their exams when Hermione came in through the portrait screaming like a wild woman on fire. "I found it! I found it!" It wasn't until she got to their table that she realized what a commotion she was making and that everyone was looking at her. "I ah, found my missing notes ..." she temporized somewhat embarrassingly. Not knowing what else to do, she grabbed Harry's arm and yanked him to his feet so she could escape scrutiny. "Come on you two, you've got to see."

She marched a chuckling Harry out the door, with an amused Ginny following closely, to the training room. Ron was standing there looking at an old book on the desk.

"All right, Hermione," Harry had to ask, "what did you find?"

"I found the spell that you need!" She was talking extremely fast. "Well, actually two spells when you get right down to it."

"So you figured out how Voldemort escaped death fifteen years ago?"

"No, and I figured out long ago that will probably never be solved. There are several Dark Magic rituals that could get close, but we'll never know what spell your Mum used to protect you either. What matters is knowing the spirit state he was in afterward; because if we know that, then he'll probably be in a similar state when his body is killed again. We just have to prepare for that situation."

Harry tried to work through this. "All right, so you're saying when we kill him, or his body rather, that he's done something to his spirit or soul that prevents it from moving on like normal people or becoming a ghost."

"Exactly. He's not really immortal, but he is close, sort of like a vampire - hard to kill but not impossible to kill. The trick will be to capture his spirit and then do something to it," she explained.

"And you found out how to do that?"

"Yes!" she confirmed triumphantly. "One spell to capture him, which is easy; that's how the Headmaster can control Peeves if he wants to."

"Oh!" Ron exclaimed. "I wondered why Peeves always left him alone."

"Precisely. The second spell was the hard one, but I found one that will allow you to turn a spirit into a solid mass," she told them excitedly.

"And that helps us how?" Harry asked.

"Come on, Harry! Solids can't ever inhabit a body because they're solid too. Spirits can only do it because they're something other than solid." Hermione thought that should have been obvious.

"I get it," Ginny joined in. "You can transmute, vanish, and do other things to a solid that you can't do to a spirit."

"You understand," her friend was happy someone else understood.

"So one of us needs to learn one spell, and the other needs to learn the other spell?" Harry thought he was starting to get it.

"That would work," Hermione told him, "but to be safe, both of you should learn both spells, as you never know what will happen and who will be able to cast the first one. Once the containment spell is cast, then the solidifying spell only has to be cast by the other person before the containment goes away. It's a very good thing you practice fighting as a team or you couldn't do this."

"I see..." Harry again wondered how fate had worked it out this way, or was it just an interpretation that coincidentally happened to fit? "Excellent work, Hermione! I knew you could do it!" Harry told his researcher. He turned to Ginny. "I think we need to find Peeves tomorrow and do a little containment practicing, what do you think?"

"I fully agree," she said, "but how do we practice the second one?"

"Like we do any other dangerous spell. We practice casting it on a rock or something until we feel something come out even though we can't see any results, and hope for the best when the time comes." No one disagreed with Harry on that, because who could they safely practice it on?

Hermione's face changed a bit as she added one last thing, "There is a small problem, Harry."

"What's that?" Harry asked, although he was afraid of what he might hear.

"Well," Hermione seemed slightly embarrassed. "The transformation spell is only short-term. Its original purpose was to be able to contain spirits temporarily, like to force them into a lamp or a bottle."

Ron looked at her. "You make it sound like that won't work for us."

"It won't, Ron," his girlfriend told him. "If the container ever broke, we'd be back to where we were when Harry was a baby, and eventually Voldemort would return to a body again. We need to change the spell slightly."

Harry's face changed as a look of understanding came over him. "You mean like finding the difference between a Sticking charm and a Permanent Sticking charm, then apply it to this spell?"

"Exactly, Harry! Since you've been reading about spell theory anyway, it shouldn't be that hard for you, although I'll work on it too." Hermione was beaming at him for understanding.

"Good thing I'm not behind on any of my classes," Harry mentioned. "If I can't figure this out soon, I guess I could also talk to Professor Dumbledore." Hermione nodded her agreement.

A week later, Harry showed the modified spell to Dumbledore for confirmation. The Headmaster was impressed and agreed it should work as needed.

* * *

The month of May was a breath of fresh air because of the absence of Draco Malfoy. Harry even relaxed his "no going off by yourself rule", though he still rarely let Ginny go anywhere without him when he was available. His paranoid habits didn't die easily, not to mention the fact that he just enjoyed being with her.

Ron and everyone else in the school were overjoyed with Maria DuPointe, the new Potions professor. She was a woman in her late fifties who knew what she was doing. In addition to her Potions knowledge, she was also a real teacher, so she actually helped the students when they were doing their labs. Ron did not make a failing grade all month in her class.

June finally arrived. For those taking OWLs and NEWTs, it was either a matter of thankfulness they could get it all over with and stop worrying, or else their worry sent them into a panic. For Harry and Ginny, it was the former; they felt more prepared than they needed to be.

Hermione didn't quite understand why they weren't revising more to get better grades, but Harry told her he was as prepared as he ever was going to be and stressing out would only make it worse. She thought that he was crazy that he wasn't more worried over his four NEWTs: Defense, Charms, Transfiguration, and History of Magic.

Of Ginny's five remaining OWLs, she'd had Pensieve lessons for three. Given the light load, she wasn't worried either.

As they started taking the exams, Harry thought all the written parts were reasonably easy, even the History one. Having a decent background really helped.

When Harry went to go take the practical for his Defense NEWT exam, he noticed that though all the seventh years were called in alphabetical order, he did not go in the middle like he should have. Instead he was the last one to go in.

When Professor Tofty called him, he was surprised at his greeting. "Mr. Potter. I'm so surprised to see you here for this since you only did your OWL last year. Therefore, when we saw your name on the list, we all decided to have you go last so we could all watch your test. To be honest, there are such high expectations for you, we didn't want to prejudice ourselves and make it unfair for the other students. We hope you didn't mind waiting."

What could he say to that? "Ah, no, that's fine, whatever you think is best."

"Excellent! Well Mr. Potter, the practical consists of four parts, each of which happens in a different room. So if you will come with me into the room in front of you, we'll start part one." The old wizard turned and walked back into the room all the other students had gone into when their name was called. Harry followed.

There were rocks on pedestals, targets on the walls, as well as Professors Marchbanks, Tofty, Ogen, and Simons sitting behind a table with forms in front of them. Harry was asked to demonstrate a number of spells for them. Wherever possible, he did his best to go beyond what as asked for, always politely asking if that was wanted. For example, when asked to Banish a rock at the target, he asked if just the one rock was wanted of if all four that were sitting there should be Banished. They politely told him he could do as many as he liked, so he sent all four flying through the air and hit the bull's eye four times in rapid succession, which earned him smiles from his judges.

After nearly twenty minutes of that, Professor Marchbanks directed him to enter the next room, and continue on until he came out the last door at the end. As he reached the door for the second room, she gave him one last instruction, "Mr. Potter, I won't bother cautioning you to be careful for yourself, but please try not to hurt anyone you may find in there." With that strange warning in his mind, the four judges got up and left through the door he originally came in as he went through the other door.

The room was pitch black. He cast a nonverbal _Lumos_ and the light from his wand lit most of a fairly long room. As he began walking towards the other end, he felt the intense cold before he saw the movement. Recognizing the black shape he could barely see in the dim light for what it was, he thought of his proposal to Ginny and her acceptance and cast "_Expecto_ _Patronum!_" His silvery stag came out of his wand and galloped towards the Dementor. Mindful of the request, he said out loud, "Push it into the corner, Prongs." The stag did just that, herding the evil creature into the far corner then stood there not letting it move towards Harry.

As Harry reached the other door, he thought about just letting it dissolve, but that didn't seem right to him somehow, so he called to the stag, "Come, Prongs." The stag turned and trotted to him, and dissolved when it reached him. The Dementor now released started advancing on Harry again, but it didn't matter as Harry was already opening the door and walking through, shutting it firmly behind him.

The next room was a square room about thirty feet to a side. Next to the door on the other side of the room was a man in nice robes sitting in a comfortable looking chair. He had dark hair and very pale skin, but otherwise looked quite normal. As Defense was all about Dark Magic and Dark Creatures, it became a choice of whether he'd have to fight this person who was about to use Dark Magic, or if he was someone merely to get by. A slight accent came from the stranger. "Greetings, my name is Igor."

Harry didn't want to seem rude, and politeness was always a good policy with unknown people, so he responded. "Hello, my name is Harry." While he glanced at the man, he also tried to inconspicuously look around the room. The man might only be a distraction. He saw a small table with a short glass and small knife on it on the side of the room, nowhere near either of them.

"It's nice to meet you Harry. How are you doing on your exams so far?"

He didn't let his eyes stay anywhere too long, though he continually let his glance slide over the man. He was suddenly reminded of the Pensieve memory from Tonks, when she was on Platform 9 ¾, and realized he was doing the same sort of thing. They had a very easygoing conversation for several minutes. Harry was still struggling to figure out what was happening here, so he hadn't moved from the entrance. Then he felt it, a pull on him to look at the stranger again. With that fact, his brain finally put all the facts together and screamed _Vampire!_ at him. This was a very dangerous creature indeed.

The meaning of the little table and its instruments now became clear. Failure in this room meant more than just a zero on this part of the practicals. It also meant you gave the vampire a snack if you fell under his beguilement or otherwise let him take advantage of you.

As the man finished his comment on what a nice place Hogwarts had been to visit, Harry changed the topic and strengthened the grip on his wand in case he needed it. "I don't mean to be impolite, Igor, but as much as I've enjoyed talking to you, seeing as I've never talked to a vampire before, do you mind if I go around you so I can go on to my next task?" Harry could fight him and win now that he knew what the creature was, but he hoped a simple request would be good enough, especially if he wasn't supposed to hurt him.

"Bravo, Harry Potter!" At the mention of his full name (which he hadn't given), Harry looked directly into the eyes of Igor and the assault hit him. He'd accidentally done the one thing he'd been trying to avoid the entire time he was there, fall under the creature's direct gaze. Now he was fighting for control, though this seemed to be beyond the beguilement mentioned in his studies. It was much more like a Legilimency attack. Pushing on his mental shield walls, he ignored the initial panic, he didn't have time for it. The onslaught was fierce. With a degree of resolve, he thought about another wall on the outside of his permanent walls and pushed hard on it, trying to shove the other mind from him. The vampire blinked and was gone from his mind. "You have hidden talents, Harry. Good job. You may continue on." He got up and walked to the side of the room opposite the little table to allow Harry to easily pass.

As Harry reached the exit door, he turned to the vampire. "Igor, may I ask you a question?"

"You may ask."

Harry had wondered about something from his studies, and he thought now may be the only time to get an answer. "In our studies, the vampire community is described as a major force in the Wizarding world, yet your community is never mentioned in the newspaper. So whom do the vampires want to win the current war?"

The vampire smiled a toothy grin at him. "The vampire community prefers to work, shall we say, undercover. We exercise influence in many ways not seen, it is our way. As for the war, most of us prefer the status quo. Voldemort has nothing to offer us."

"So you're neutral?" The vampire nodded. "Thank you, Igor, and have a good evening."

"You're welcome, Harry Potter. Your strength and intellect are assets to you. I believe you stand a very good chance to win your fight." Now Harry nodded his acknowledgment. "Good luck on your last room, Harry." Then he raised his voice. "Judges, I suggest four bonus points for passing an extra test I gave him, and one bonus point for exceptional civil relations." Igor again smiled at him with his longer teeth and then went out the door that led into the room with the Dementor.

Three rooms down, Harry thought, as he went into the fourth, and final room. It was another thirty foot square room, but this one appeared to be totally empty. He stood next to the entry door for a few seconds trying to figure out what was here. Something told him a fight was about to come that would make him very busy, so he pulled out his short backup wand so he could do spells faster with both hands. Then without warning, a pink jet of light came streaming from the other side of the room at him. Harry twisted and barely dodged the spell from his invisible assailant. He brought up his heaviest shield as a red stunning spell came at him and clanged on the edge of his shield. That second bolt came from the right of the first one, so he assumed his opponent was on the move.

Knowing he needed more information, he shot out a water spell to cover the area he thought his opponent was in. Sure enough, there was a disturbance in the water flow. A third bolt hit his shield and destroyed it, but Harry shot a Stunner back and his foe fell into the thin layer of water on the floor. In fact, most of the floor had water on it now. Being paranoid, he stood still and watched for any movement at all.

Off to his left, he heard a splatter in the water. Stepping forward a step to dodge anything that might be coming his way, he turned and with his left hand wand conjured a shield while he sent a banishing spell with his right hand wand. He heard a thud against the wall and a splash as something hit the water. He decided to get out of there now, so he cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself, followed by a Levitation spell on his boots to rise up and stay in the air. A small wind spell and he was now floating towards the door and not giving any sign of his location away in the water. When he reached the exit door, he dropped to the floor and flung the door open jumping through it, hoping that meant safety. Only after the door was closed did he remove the Disillusionment Charm.

Professor Dumbledore stood there waiting on him. "Congratulations, Mr. Potter. I believe you are the first person in the history of Hogwarts to achieve a perfect score on their Defense NEWT practical. I hope you did as well on the written portion." The four judges came around the corner from where they had been watching his progress with amazement on their faces.

"Well done, Mr. Potter!" Professor Tofty told him excitedly. "Very well done. You definitely exceeded on the exams. The Disillusionment and Levitation charms combined were simply inspired!" The other judges were very congratulatory too.

That evening at dinner time, Ginny very carefully questioned Harry on his afternoon, asking what had happened. When he asked her why, she explained that it was fortunate she'd just turned in her Creatures OWL because several waves of fear hit her so hard she almost fell out of her chair in the waiting room.

He apologized and told her about the vampire and the fight at the end. She was very wide-eyed as she told him maybe she was happy she was taking her OWLs instead of her NEWTs.

The rest of Harry's NEWTs were about the same. Whatever he was asked to do, he tried to do a little bit more. He really wanted Outstandings on these exams.

* * *

After the NEWT exams were done, those students had about a week to relax while the other years were taking their normal exams. Harry had only his Potions and Herbology exams after his NEWTs. Though a bit harder than he'd expected, he still thought he did well on his Potions exam. If Professor DuPointe came back next year, he was sure he'd do well on his Potions NEWT.

The last surprise of the year faced Harry on his train ride home - Draco Malfoy. Harry had seen Malfoy only once during his return, which was during the Potions exam. The blond haired boy had otherwise stayed in the Slytherin dungeon. Yet here he was taking the train home with everyone else. They glared at each other but no words were said. Harry and Ginny, with prompting from Tonks and Remus who were going to ride the train as well, sat near the front of the train a short ways from the prefect cabin. Draco sat a couple of cars further back near the middle of the train.

The train pulled out of the Hogsmeade station and started heading back to London. Ron and Hermione were up in the prefect cabin so Harry and Ginny had the compartment to themselves for the moment. Neville had said he'd join them in a while; Luna Lovegood had wanted to talk to someone else in Ravenclaw and Neville had opted to stay with her until she was done. Harry liked the thought of Neville and Luna together.

Ginny was sitting in his lap at the moment and they were having a conversation about next year. She was trying to decide what to do about her classes since she'd basically finished Transfiguration, Charms, and Defense and could take her NEWTs there anytime. She only needed two more NEWTs beyond those to become a fully qualified witch. So if she were allowed, she could double up on two of her classes and make next year her last year – hopefully.

For that matter, Harry could become a fully qualified wizard now with these four NEWTs plus his Runes NEWT at Christmas; however, he strongly preferred to come back for his seventh year because Ginny would be there. They could have an easy year next year and graduate together. This had been a common discussion for them this last week, and they were both starting to get comfortable with the idea if they could talk Dumbledore and McGonagall into it.

Ginny looked away from Harry and out the window into the hallway and saw Tonks and Remus talking there, both leaning against the wall, shoulders touching and hands linked as they talked. She pointed it out to Harry who smiled at her and told her it would be soon for those two now.

— — —

Back in the middle of the train, Draco Malfoy pulled the shades to his compartment closed and pulled out a device that resembled a crystal ball and set it on the floor. He then cast three Cushioning charms on the back wall as he'd been instructed. Taking a deep breath and hoping for the best, he activated the device. It glowed a deep blue for a moment.

His father, Lucius Malfoy, Portkeyed into the compartment a moment later and then slammed into the back wall at the speed the train was moving with an "Umph". The hazard of Portkeying from standing still to a moving point. Lucius stepped away from the wall and shook himself. "One more Cushioning charm, I think. Here Draco." He pulled another Portkey homing device from his robe and handed it to his son, "go do the same in the compartment across the hall." Draco took the device and went over, ordering Crabbe and Goyle out of the compartment they were holding for him. Lucius put two more Cushioning charms on the back wall just to be safe and waited. When the other device was activated, it would be the signal that he had made it safely.

A few minutes later, Crabbe and Goyle seniors came through the device. "Ready?" he asked when they had recovered. They nodded, then all three Apparated to the back of the train; since they were going from moving point to moving point all at the same speed, it was safe.

In the last car of the train, Shacklebolt and Dawlish were musing on the easy assignment when three men in Death Eater robes Apparated in. Fortunately, they were a bit constricted due to the narrow hallway of the train, and only one of the Death Eaters had ended up facing them - the other two were facing towards the front of the train. That gave Shacklebolt just enough time throw up a shield before the first set of spells came upon them. "Dawlish, Apparate back to the Ministry and get them to stop this train with lots of help on hand. Now!" Dawlish paused to throw a Stunner at the trio of Death Eaters. "Now Dawlish," Shacklebolt shouted, "or we'll never get any help."

Dawlish knew it was going to hurt greatly to go from a moving train to standing still; Auror School had covered this. He just hoped he landed in an open area and no one was directly in front of him to run into. Putting a cushioning spell on himself, he Apparated to the foyer of the Ministry of Magic and prayed. Coming back into normal space, he had the speed of the train and ten feet later bowled over a wizard who had just Flooed into work; that slowed him down some, but it hurt a lot. His rolling tumble skidded to a halt just before he hit the elevator door at the end of the hall. He managed to hang on to consciousness long enough to tell another Auror who had rushed over, "Hogwarts train under attack by Death Eaters. Stop the train-" then he passed out from his pain.

Shacklebolt had already taken down Crabbe Sr., but Malfoy Sr. was giving him a difficult time; fortunately Goyle Sr. could not get a good shot at him because some students were actually keeping him busy.

Draco stood by the window and soon Wormtail and Bellatrix LeStrange Portkeyed in shortly one after another. They looked at each other and smiled. Getting their bearings, they Apparated to the front of the train. Draco watched Death Eaters Portkey to the homing device about every half minute. Those from his compartment went forward; those from the other compartment went backward. Four more from his compartment also Apparated forward. When most of the Death Eaters he knew had come through the two devices, the Dark Lord himself appeared.

Standing back up after crashing into the wall, Voldemort turned and looked at the boy. "Draco, you have redeemed yourself. Now which way to Potter so I can take care of him once and for all?"

Draco pointed down the hall to the forward part of the train. "That way, your Lordship."

Swirling his black cape around him as he turned, Lord Voldemort headed towards the direction that Draco had pointed to. He looked in some of the compartments as he went and saw students who were stunned. He also saw some blood where one or two had tried to fight back. Then he came to his first Death Eater lying in the hallway. He couldn't tell if he was merely stunned or if he was dead. No matter, he stepped over him. A little later he found another, then another. The students were fighting back more than expected, but then that's why he'd brought all of his trustworthy core group.

He'd sent six to the front where he'd expected more opposition, as the Head Boy and Girl would be there, plus the prefects. Three were sent to the back of the train in case someone was there. The other ten were sent half forward and half backward to help control the students on the train. It really was the perfect time to attack Potter. No teachers or other guards, just a train full of children. He laughed at that thought.

The Head Boy and Girl had gone down easily as they hadn't been expecting an attack. Unfortunately for Bellatrix and Wormtail, the prefects in the next compartment heard the spells going off and their wands were out when Bellatrix opened the door to the large cabin. Even more unfortunate for her, most of them were DA trained from last year and this year, so the fight was not an easy one. The third strike against them was Tonks and Lupin were still standing in the hallway by the door to the prefect cabin when it all started and rushed in to help.

When the other four Death Eaters came in behind Bellatrix and Wormtail, they were not able to help much because of the confined space, though they did manage to get a few spells off before Wormtail grabbed one of them and push him into the cabin to draw fire. Wormtail and Bellatrix both took out two prefects each, while the prefects were stunning the Death Eater that was thrown in. Bellatrix saw the success of that and did the same action again. By the time the four extra Death Eaters were all stunned, it was down to Justin Finch-Fletchley, an injured Ron, Hermione, Tonks, and Remus against the two Death Eater lieutenants.

Harry and Ginny saw Tonks and Remus run for the prefect cabin but they didn't know why. Opening their compartment door, they looked down the hallway and saw the two standing at the doorway flinging spells inward. The two teens wanted to help, but there was no place for them to go, so they just watched until there was an opening where they could join.

About a minute later, Ginny looked the other way again, which had been clear earlier, and now saw spell flashes from that way. "Harry, they're coming from the other direction too."

"Come on," he told her, "let's help them until we have a chance to find out what's happening in the prefect cabin." He led them through the door at the end of their car and the next car to find the Creevey brothers on the left and Neville and Luna on the right firing spells down the hallway at what looked like four or five Death Eaters trying to advance to them.

He felt Ginny grab his right hand and they joined in. Between the three sets of students, especially with Harry and Ginny's power, the Death Eaters went down quickly. Even the _Avada_ _Kedavras_ weren't a problem as Ginny would summon one of the many loose boards of debris lying around to block them.

Four stunned Death Eaters later, when they had a chance to breathe, Neville asked the standard question of the day, "What the hell's going on?"

"You got me there, mate," Harry told him. "They're fighting up at the front too, but we couldn't get up there to help."

"How did they get onto a moving train?" It was Colin who asked the second most frequent question of the day.

"Beats me," Harry told him. "I don't understand it all. Tonks told me it's very dangerous to Portkey or Apparate onto a moving object like a train or a bus."

Then Ginny exclaimed, "Oh bloody hell! We're in for it now!"

Harry looked up and through the glass door at the other end of the car they could see a single bald black robed figure about to come through the door. Fortunately, all four of the DA members were in their compartments and not visible from the hallway. "Quick, lay down and play dead, you guys, Voldemort is coming." Neville's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head, the other three didn't look much better.

Harry turned to Ginny and thought at her quickly because he couldn't talk fast enough. _Don't power share for as long as we can. We want to save that as a surprise. We've also got to draw him back into the other car, so open the doors behind us so they stay open, blast them if you have to. If the spells get too obscure, I'll take defense._ Their time ran out, Voldemort was walking in the door at the other end of the train car.

Lord Voldemort saw the rest of his Death Eaters lying in the hallway, but he also saw the reason why. There was a redheaded girl and black haired bespectacled boy at the other end of the car. "Harry Potter, we meet again."

Harry now felt wind at his back as Ginny managed to get the door opened. Then he heard a blast behind him, presumably the other door, but he couldn't look right now.

"Tom Riddle, I can't say I'm happy to see you."

"No, I suppose you aren't; but since my other attempts to get you to come see me have failed, I thought I'd come give the invitation in person." With a speed that surprised even Harry, Voldemort sent a Killing Curse at him. Harry and Ginny both summoned damaged train materials to block the spell. Voldemort took a step forward and the students took a step backward to maintain the distance.

"What's wrong, Harry?" the Evil Lord taunted. "Afraid to fight me when you don't have your mum to die for you and protect you? Wait, you have a girlfriend now, maybe she'd be willing to make the same sacrifice for you." Again a quick Killing Curse was shot, but this time it was aimed at Ginny, and again it was blocked with debris. Voldemort took advantage of them having to block the spell to move closer; and as soon as the teens could, they took several steps backward so they had now crossed back into their original car.

"Well Harry, since you're not all that happy to see me, perhaps I should help you out with that." Then before Harry knew what was happening, he heard "_Accio glasses!_" Harry felt his glasses leave his face. Voldemort caught them in one hand, crumpled them, and tossed them to the side. Ginny gasped and became very afraid because she knew he needed his glasses. He chanced a quick look at her, thinking and whispering, _Don't worry about it, trust me._ He hoped she got the message because he heard another Killing Curse coming and turned to watch one come at him. Trying not to give anything away, he jumped to the side and let it go by. Harry was extremely thankful Tonks had talked him into contact lenses.

"I guess I should thank you for that, Tom. Now all I can see is a fuzzy person instead of an ugly person." They had still been slowly retreating and the Dark Lord had been slowly advancing. It got tricky here because Voldemort was almost at the end of his car and therefore near Harry's friends whom he hoped were playing dead very well. To help his friends avoid notice, Harry finally started shooting stunners at the evil man; Ginny shot a few too, though she also had to watch and block some spells coming back at her also. The fight was beginning in earnest.

The couple didn't have too much more room, they were almost to the cabin door to the prefect area. Voldemort continued to advance, apparently hoping to trap them there. As they were about to stop, Ginny's shield went down and she was partially hit by some spell which made her woozy. Harry grabbed her and caught her hand to keep her from falling. This caused his shield to collapse and Voldemort sent a Killing Curse at Ginny, which forced Harry to conjure a brick to stop it. He quickly put up a flat reflective shield that caught the next Stunner coming for him and it bounced back at the Dark Lord who had to block his own spell. That gave Harry just enough time to _Enervate_ Ginny.

They got a further break because it was at that time that Neville finally stuck his head out to see what was happening and decided to send a Bludgeoning spell at Voldemort. It only grazed the robe on his left arm as he was in motion, but it did get his attention. Without looking where he was shooting, Voldemort fired a Killing Curse behind him that narrowly missed Colin, who had peeked out of his compartment. Then to make sure he was uninterrupted, the Dark Lord conjured a rock wall behind him.

Ginny was back up by now and they were power sharing. Harry was angry at Riddle because Ginny had almost been hurt; he was also angry at himself for almost waiting too long. She felt that angry steel back in Harry again and it gave her more courage to face their nemesis. They both started firing spells as fast as they could, and with as much power as they could.

Tom Riddle could not keep a shield up, every time he put one up, Harry's spell would take it back down. To make it worse, the girl would sneak a spell in on him. The rock wall didn't look like such a good idea now as he had no easy avenue of retreat. For the first time, Tom Riddle felt fear while fighting; he couldn't understand how they had so much power behind each of their spells. They were not even using complicated spells, just a lot of brute force - even more than he was able to cast.

In a moment of inspiration, he understood as he noticed they always held hands. They had found some way to power share. As he dodged the spells coming at him, he couldn't understand how they done it though because those spells were very Dark magic, and they also only combined power, not increased it. Yet, they seemed to have more than the sum of their individual powers. He had to break the connection. Voldemort fired one last _Avada_ _Kedavra_ which took down their shield and caused Ginny to have to dodge it as it came through. He then shouted, "_Accio girl!_"

As she started moving towards Tom Riddle, Harry shouted, "A shield, Ginny!" Harry was doing all he could to hold onto her hand, so he was off balance as he was dragged along and couldn't cast anything. Because of their combined weight, she went slowly and managed to cast her golden shield just before they got there, which was the same time Harry was able to swing around and cast a heavy bludgeoning spell.

The bludgeoning spell got there first and knocked Tom back into the rock wall, crushing most of the bones in his chest as he was pinched between the spell and the rock wall. His slamming into the wall caused it to crack before he bounced back out a half step or so. Then Ginny's shield hit him ramming him back into the wall, smashing several internal organs. The summoning spell ceased and Ginny stepped back to get away from him which allowed him to fall to the ground as her shield stopped. The rock wall was no longer stable and it crumbled. While most of it fell on Voldemort's body, the top rock fell the furthest out and crushed his head.

Ginny screamed, "Harry, he's dying!" She pulled her hand from his and cast the spirit containment spell in as wide an area as she could. Within a few seconds, they saw a silvery gray mist in it that looked like Peeves put through a blender.

"Compress him down, Ginny," Harry told her as moved his wand to his right hand for the more complicated spell he was about to do.

She made the field compress until she had a ball only a little bit bigger than a croquet ball. "Harry, that's as far as it goes," she said with some strain in her voice. "Do it quickly."

Harry cast his version of the spell Hermione found for them and they watched the silvery spirit solidify into a gray, marble-streaked ball. When the spell finished, the containment spell would no longer hold it and it fell heavily to the floor of the train car shattering into many pieces. For some reason he couldn't name, Harry reached down and picked up a piece the size of a small pebble and put it in his pocket. Ginny looked at him quizzically. He shrugged and merely said, "A souvenir."

With a wave of his wand and a _Scourgify_, all the parts of Voldemort except for the small piece in his pocket turned into magic particles and disappeared forever.

His arm around her shoulders, they stood there for a moment contemplating the end of Voldemort and trying to get their ragged breathing under control. Suddenly, the hallway door behind them exploded as a spell hit it, and another came through before they could move and hit Ginny on her left side near her shoulder, the wound running down almost to her hip. She collapsed with a scream. Harry instantly put up a dome shield as he didn't know where else spells would be coming from. Fortunately he was able to grab her hand, which gave them a strong shield, because two more spells came flying in and hit the shield with a clang.

Looking down at his girlfriend, he saw a lot of blood coming out of her. He started to panic before he remembered the healing charm Healer Davies had him use last September. Struggling to think back, he decided to try it and see what would happen. To his relief, the blood stopped flowing, though she was still unconscious.

Harry wanted to punch someone for the injustice of it all. They'd finally overcome Tom Riddle, then Ginny was injured for no reason, and by a stray spell no less. It just wasn't fair they should still have to fight; he'd done his part by killing Voldemort.

Still inside the dome shield, he tried to move her ever so slightly so she'd be a little more comfortable, even if she was still unconscious. He had to hope it was something simple like being knocked out, and that he could get medical help soon.

In the meantime, there was something he could do. Reaching behind him with his free hand, he grabbed four rocks somewhat larger than his fist and tossed them in front of him just inside his shield. Looking down the hallway and into the prefects cabin, he could see Tonks' arm throwing another spell. "Tonks!" he called out.

He saw Ron warily glance around the doorframe of the hallway door that had just been blown apart. "She's busy, Harry!" The redhead shot a Stunner down to the end through the doorway Harry could see at the end of the hallway into the cabin for the Head Boy and Head Girl.

"Ron, tell her to get out of the way. I need a clear path down the hall. Tell her to scream like she's hurt when she's clear. I've got a plan."

"Harry, you'll be wide open to be hit! That's Bellatrix and Pettigrew in there ..."

Harry's predatory smile frightened Ron. "Just do it Ron, I only need one chance!"

Holding Ginny's hand for the power boost, Harry got ready by dropping the shield and levitating one of the rocks in front of him, waiting for his chance. Suddenly, he saw a jet of red light come from the head compartment and go off to his right followed by a woman's scream. He hoped that was faked, it sounded so real. Then he saw what he was waiting for; Peter Pettigrew came out from the left side of the doorway to the head compartment. Harry banished the rock with all the magical might and fury in him for all the hurt Pettigrew had inflicted upon him: for the betrayal of his parents and the framing of Sirius. Peter never saw the rock streaking at him, but his body felt it and he went flying backward. Though Harry heard the rock hit the compartment wall and Peter's body thudded to the wall or floor, he didn't acknowledge the sounds as he was already levitating the next rock.

As expected, he saw Bellatrix LeStrange's face make an appearance on the right side of the doorway to find out what had happened. With all the anger he felt at her for Sirius' death, Harry Banished the rock down the left side of the hallway with a whooshing sound. At the last second, he put a wicked right curve on it so it hit the doorframe and Bellatrix at the same time.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Harry wasn't sure, but it sounded a lot like Ron. Whether it was or not, he did see Ron's face come around the hallway door at floor level just enough for one eye to see if there was any more things about to fly by. When he saw Harry just sitting there, he called out, "You all right, Harry?" Harry looked at him and also saw a dirty and disheveled Tonks look down the hallway at him too from her sheltered place before she slowly walked to the now quiet head compartment, to make sure their adversaries were not going to attack them.

Harry was about to answer Ron when he saw Tonks quickly come back out of the compartment and retch. She sort of stood there for a few seconds bent over with her hands on her knees while she spit the bile out. Straightening up, she walked back towards Harry and Ginny, seeing the many stunned or otherwise hurt prefects from the battle. As she got to Ron, she saw that he was only injured in one leg and stopped for a moment to examine him. Hermione was unconscious.

"Ron, it looks like all those extra lessons with Harry really paid off. You're the only prefect conscious. So, sorry to have to do this to you, but I really need you to try to revive some of the others here. Look after Remus for me, and also guard the head compartment." She saw a look of fear on his face. With a grim smile she told him, "Don't worry, they're dead. Do yourself a favor and don't look in there, and prevent everyone else from going in there too. It's a real mess unless you want to see someone with half a face." Ron looked like he wished he hadn't heard that. She slowly arose and continued back towards Harry and Ginny.

"Tonks, she was hit and lost a lot of blood. We've got to get her to a healer immediately!" Harry was quite worried.

The Auror looked at her closely then felt for a pulse. "A bit weak but very consistent. In my first aid class, they said that's mostly fine. We'll get her to a healer as soon as we can Harry."

"But, can't we do something else?" His worry was consuming him.

"Harry, I know that it looks bad, but I really don't think it is. Why don't you help me carry her back to your compartment and we'll get someone to watch after her. Look," the Auror said and pointed, "Ron has awakened Hermione; she can watch over Ginny. Now that we know this was an all out assault, I need you to come with me to check on the rest of the train to make sure it is secure." She needed to keep him busy.

Reluctantly, he agreed. Ginny took one bench, Lupin took the other as he'd had to be Stunned after he'd been hit with a Confundus charm and was as much a danger to others as to himself. Ron sat on the floor nearby with his broken leg while a tired and still slightly woozy Hermione did her best to take care of everyone. As they looked to be resting well, she then started helping Justin who was trying to revive other stunned or lightly injured prefects and give basic first aid where he could.

As Harry and Tonks went to leave the car and came to the rock pile, Tonks asked, "Where did that come from?"

"Voldemort conjured it to protect his back, but it ended up falling on him and killing him." Harry explained.

"You actually killed him?!" She was amazed.

"Yes. The special spells did the right thing and he's gone for good." He was very matter-of-fact about it in his exhaustion.

A stunned looking Tonks grabbed the young man in a big hug. "Oh Harry! I knew you could do it!"

They climbed over the pile of rocks and walked into the next car. There they found Neville lying next to Draco, both of them out. Colin was propped against the door frame with his brother leaning against him, unconscious. "What happened, Colin?" Harry asked as he and Tonks did a quick check.

"Malfoy came up behind us and ambushed us. Hit Luna with something that took her out. He also shot something at Dennis and he won't wake up; I think it grazed me cause I don't feel so good. Neville got him in the end though."

Harry was proud of his friend. "_Enervate!_" Neville slowly came to. "Take it easy mate. Just lie there, it's OK now." His roommate nodded. "And good job on Malfoy, Neville." His friend smiled up at Harry.

Tonks had Malfoy tied up. "Harry, the standard operating procedure will be to put a Disapparation spell on them, summon Portkeys and wands, then bind them." He nodded and they moved backward on the train securing the Death Eaters they found and helping the severely wounded.

He found his glasses and bent them back as best he could before he did a Reparo on them. Not quite as good as new, he put them on anyway to maintain appearances. Once he'd done so, he amused himself with the thought that Hermione, Ron, Neville, and Colin hadn't mentioned anything about him not wearing them. It was amazing what high stress would allow a person to overlook.

Near the middle of the train, Tonks found a compartment with a glass ball on the floor. Harry found one in the compartment on the other side just like it.

"Damn!" she swore. "That's how they did it."

"What?"

"It's a device that lets them know where we are so they could either Portkey or Apparate in. The folks in the Department of Mysteries will want to see this." Tonks shook her head. She hated to leave them as they were, but she didn't dare touch them either, so she locked both doors with several spells.

A few doors down, they found a compartment full of first-years huddled in fear. After they were calmed down, Tonks got the whole group to stand in the hallway by the devices to watch them, and to run screaming for help if anyone came through. They trembled at that, but agreed.

At the end of the train, they found a seventh year Ravenclaw student who was tending a badly wounded but still alive Kingsley. The student had him wrapped in conjured bandages. There were six downed Death Eaters there, one of whom was Lucius Malfoy. He was in pretty bad shape too, but no one wasted the time or energy on Draco's father; there were too many injured students.

As they finished securing the last of the Death Eaters, they felt the train jerk and heard the brakes squeal as it started to slow down. Tonks shot a piece of rope out of her wand and tied it to Kingsley's wrist. As soon as the train stopped, it was going to become a Portkey to St. Mungo's.

Harry started panicking again when he realized the train would be stopping and he wasn't going to be there to protect Ginny. He didn't know who would be waiting for the train, and his fear assumed the worst. He started running the best he could towards the front, jumping over fallen people and pushing past milling students. The group of firsties watching the homing devices barely got any consideration as the train continued to slow. He clambered back over the pile of rocks and arrived back to a still unconscious Ginny with less than a minute to spare. His wand was drawn and he was ready to fight for her.

Looking out the window, he saw many of his professors and lots of Auror robes. Relief flooded through him. With Ginny being foremost in his mind, he Vanished the outside wall to the compartment as the train finished slowing down. That got attention of everyone who was on the small station platform where the train had come to a stop. Seeing Dumbledore, he shouted to him. "Headmaster! Ginny's hurt, can you please make a Portkey to St. Mungo's for me?!"

Dumbledore looked at him in alarm at hearing his words and seeing blood all over Harry's clothes, he grabbed a splintered stick of wood from the train compartment, tapped it so it glowed blue, and held it out to him. "You have ten seconds to grab Ginny firmly," he told Harry. Harry scooped up Ginny and grabbed the stick from him with a couple of seconds to spare.

They arrived in the spell treatment area of St. Mungo's and Harry managed not to stumble or fall after Portkeying for the first time in his life. Glancing around, he saw Kingsley had been the first one there. He then saw his favorite healer. "Healer Davies!"

The healer saw him covered in blood holding a limp redheaded girl in his arms. He rushed over to them. "What happened Harry?"

"Death Eaters attacked the Hogwarts train. She got hit with a spell and won't wake up."

"Bring her over here to the treatment room, Harry." As they hurried to the room, the healer all but shouted to a colleague, "Charles, another attack! Prepare for lots of incoming wounded." He closed the door behind him and went to the table Harry had set Ginny on. His diagnostic spells didn't reveal much so he had to ask, "Tell me what's happened to her, she doesn't seem to be that badly injured."

Harry felt somewhat better, but he was still very concerned. "She was hit with some cutting spell, or that's what I thought because there was so much blood. I did my best with the healing spell you had me do last fall. But she won't wake up and Tonks said her pulse was weak. I think she may have hit her head on the wall when she fell."

"All right, that makes sense then. Show me where you healed her. Harry rolled her slightly and showed him the rip in her clothes on her side starting at the shoulder and going down almost to her hip. With a cleaning spell to remove the dried blood, the healer saw newly healed flesh; diagnostics on it looked very good. "You did a good job, Harry. So this is what we have. She has a concussion, nothing bad; I can fix that. Between it and blood loss, that's why her body doesn't want to wake up."

He walked over to the cabinet and picked up a potion bottle. "A little bit of this to help her body restore the lost blood." He put half the bottle's contents in her mouth and helped her swallow. "Plus a little help from my wand." He did a spell over her head. "There," he smiled at Harry, "that will allow her to wake in an hour or two instead of a day or so. Be patient, Harry, you'll be talking with her soon. By the way, how do you feel?"

"I'm fine. Just very tired."

"Hmm, let me be the judge of that." He did a diagnostic on Harry. "Let me see your right arm." Harry showed it to him. The healer turned him around and pulled cut cloth aside and Harry felt a burning sensation down the backside of his arm and on part of his shoulder. The feeling soon went away however. "You get some of this too, Harry." Harry obediently took the dose given to him; he'd had no idea he'd been hit too. "I just hope I don't have to keep doing this sort of thing for you."

"Thank you again, Healer Davies. And don't worry, this should be the last time; it's over."

"Over?"

"Yes, Voldemort is really dead. We just finished him off."

The older man smiled. "Bless you, Harry! Let me congratulate you on a job well done." He shook the young man's hand. "We'll get her a place to wake up and you can stay with her until she's ready to leave, though I'd suggest you sit to rest for awhile. By her bed might be a good place," he suggested and winked at the boy. Opening the door, he flagged down a nurse. "Take this young lady and her companion to room two, nurse."

The nurse started to argue with the healer, Harry assumed something wasn't quite normal. The healer stopped the nurse's protests with "It doesn't matter, these two people get the best room while they're here. And don't take too long, a lot more people are probably coming in." Before he left the room he said with a big smile, "Thank you again, Harry Potter."

A few minutes later, the nurse came back and wheeled Ginny's table to a room down the hall. Harry followed and was relieved no one else was there to try to talk to him. Once at the room, she had him wait in the hall for minute or so while she settled Ginny in. Finally, she opened the door and let him come in too.

In the room, which he saw was a large private room, the nurse was pulling a sheet up over Ginny, who was now wearing pyjamas. She pointed to a cabinet and said her dirty clothes were in there, but she'd left her jewelry on. Sure enough, Ginny was still wearing his locket and the earrings he'd given her at Christmas. As she went to leave, the nurse smiled at him and reassured him Ginny would soon be all right, and if he needed anything to just ask. He wasn't sure why the nurse was acting nicer now, he didn't care.

He pulled a chair up next to her bed and grabbed her left hand. Holding her hand in his, he felt her engagement ring digging into his palm. He never tired of looking at it with her as it gave him something to look forward to.

Harry straightened the hair around her face. He loved her long red hair. Leaning his head on her shoulder, he poured his heart out to her in whispers. He told her how much he loved her, wanted her, dreams he had with her, as well as his fear of losing her. There were also pauses in his whispers as he searched for her within him. She was there peacefully, but he wanted her to be awake. He could only begin to imagine what it must have been like for her at Christmas when he wasn't in his right mind.

It was during one of those pauses as he was searching for a sign from her, that he heard the patter of quick feet and the door being opened. He was still so keyed up, without thinking he flung out his arm and wandlessly put up a shield charm across the doorway, only to see Mrs. Weasley run into the shield and fall backward into the arms of her husband. Harry was mortified it had happened to her twice, even though he hadn't done it the first time - though he had laughed when Tonks had told him later. Fortunately, she wasn't knocked out, but was only a little stunned and very surprised.

Harry immediately took the shield down and her parents slowly walked into the room. Harry pulled out his wand and conjured two chairs for them before he started whispering his profuse apologies. "I'm so sorry, Mrs. Weasley! When I heard someone running this way I automatically thought the worst after what had happened earlier."

"It's all right, Harry, I understand," she told him. "How is Ginny?"

"She's going to be fine." He proceeded to tell both of them what the healer told him, doing his best to make it sound like it was no big deal so they wouldn't worry about Ginny so much. Harry was still cradling Ginny's left hand in his while he was talking and didn't notice Mrs. Weasley looking Ginny over as only a mother would.

To his misfortune, she noticed something Harry did not. "What is that on her hand?" The engagement ring was now plainly visible because of all the spells she had endured. The glamour had worn off, but because Harry could always see it anyway, he didn't know. "Where did she get that ring?" she asked accusingly.

Harry could now guess what she was talking about, and he was face to face with the moment he'd been dreading, and Ginny wasn't available to help him. "Mrs. Weasley ..."

"You're both far too young to be getting married," she went on in a slightly raised voice, the whisper forgotten. "Arthur, help me out here ..."

But Mr. Weasley didn't say a word, Harry saw the man look at him with a patient, kind, even accepting look, along with a slight smile when Molly wasn't looking at him.

When Mrs. Weasley paused for a breath, Harry jumped in to defend himself. "What does too young mean?" Then he had to add something that had been bouncing around in his head for awhile. "And how should we really measure age anyway? Because I feel like I'm fifty-six, not sixteen almost seventeen, sometimes with all that's happened to me; and Ginny feels fifty-five." Molly was taken aback when Harry presented the same thoughts that Dumbledore had. A memory from Ginny come to him. "By the way Mrs. Weasley, how old were you when you got married?"

Molly sat there and gaped at him. He hadn't been disrespectful sounding the entire time, but she still couldn't believe he had said all that. Knowing she'd been married only a few weeks after her eighteenth birthday didn't help either.

He pulled confidence not only from her silence, but from her husband's continual smile. "We'll wait for a year until she's seventeen if we need to; but we would strongly prefer to be married late this summer after she turns sixteen," Harry put forth hoping to mollify her.

Her mum didn't look convinced. "I'm not sure that's wise, Harry. You still have a major problem with ..."

But she didn't get to finish as Harry suddenly felt another presence, "Ginny!" He turned to her and threw his arms around her shoulders and neck burying his face in her hair beside her head. "Ginny, I'm so glad you've returned to me. I love you so much." He continued to hug her and he felt her arms go around his back to return the hug.

Molly was shocked at his reaction because there was no indication she was awake, yet he knew without even watching her, like a mother is attuned to her baby she thought. Looking at her daughter, she also noticed that she now had womanly hips and other curves. Her fingernails were not painted cute colors like a little girl, but the color of her hair with white edges, a more purposeful and sophisticated look. And her hands on Harry's back holding him and rubbing up and down his broad back; no, they were not little girl's hands, they were almost the size of Molly's hands. They were hands of a young woman who were used to holding her young man this way. The realization that her daughter had indeed grown up hit her hard. Tears started coming to her eyes at these thoughts and she leaned against her husband for support and comfort.

After a few minutes of whispering and comforting each other, Harry finally pulled back and Ginny noticed her mum's tears. Sitting up, she opened her arms for her mother. "It's all right Mum, I'm going to be just fine." The two women hugged.

"I know you are dear, it's just that ... that ... that I just realized what you've been trying to tell me since last summer. You're not my little girl any more. You're still my daughter, but you are grown up." They hugged even tighter. Mr. Weasley looked at Harry and they exchanged smiles.

Ginny turned to Harry while still holding onto her mother. "Thank you, Harry for having that talk for me. I haven't been able to explain it to her so she'd understand."

Pulling back but still holding onto her daughter's shoulders, Molly retorted with, "I wasn't that bad, was I?" When Ginny gave her a firm nod and serious look, Molly looked away. "I guess I was, wasn't I." It was a statement of acknowledgement not a question. Looking back up at her youngest, Molly frowned. "I still think you should wait though." When Ginny started to object, Molly hurried on. "I don't want you to be a bigger target to Vol-Voldemort because you're married to Harry. I know he'd do everything he could to protect you, but there's no use tempting fate or making Harry have to work harder to protect a wife when he has it hard enough as it is."

Ginny started to tell her mum how wrong she was when the intent of the words sunk in. While she managed to keep her face neutral, Harry couldn't help but feel her mischievousness build inside. He knew his fiancée was as sneaky as her twin brothers, but he didn't think even they could have fun with this situation. "So Mum, you're saying that when Voldemort is dead, then I can get married to Harry?" Now it dawned on Harry how she was trapping her mum, and it was all he could do to keep a straight face.

"I don't know that I'd have put it quite that way, but yes dear, I suppose you can."

"Right then," she smiled at her fiancé. "Harry, I believe you have a question for my dad?"

Harry mentally gulped, nervousness suddenly kicking in double strength. "Now?" Ginny nodded. "But, but, ..." Ginny gave him the look. Harry swallowed and turned to her dad, who seemed to be chewing on his bottom lip, while the corners of his mouth twitched from watching the byplay between the two youngsters.

"Uh, Mr. Weasley, I'd like to request the hand of your daughter in marriage. Well, all of her really," he asked as he saw Mr. Weasley smile at him, which gave him encouragement. "May we get married?"

Mr. Weasley smiled at the two of them and told them, "Yes, you have our permission and blessing to get married." When he stopped there, Molly gave him her look, so he quickly tacked on, "when Voldemort is no longer a threat, or when Ginny turns seventeen." Molly's look turned into a glare. "Well dear, we can't stop her then anyway." Molly didn't look happy but didn't argue.

Harry smiled at Ginny and asked, "So, happy now?" He could feel that she was, both about her parent's permission and the joke what was about to bloom.

"Yes I am. So what do you think about a wedding on the 9th of August?" she asked all three of them.

Harry couldn't keep it in any more and snorted at the same time Molly burst out, "Ginny, you agreed to wait until ..."

"Mum!" Her mother surprisingly stopped talking. Ginny continued on more calmly but with mirth in her voice. "Why do you think Harry and I are in the hospital?"

Molly thought that was a silly question, but answered anyway. "When we got the _Patronus_ message about the battle on the train, and that you'd been sent to St. Mungo's. Of course we came straight here to be with you."

At this point, Ginny flung herself back on the bed and laughed with abandon. "Ginevra Molly Weasley!" Her mother was now quite upset at her for this insanity.

Harry felt he had to step in. "Mrs. Weasley, it's all right ... really."

"No, it's not all right, Harry," she told him fiercely.

"Yes it is. Didn't anyone tell you?"

"Tell us what," she said crossly.

"The outcome of the battle." Both of the older Weasleys still looked puzzled. "We did it, Ginny and I defeated Voldemort and all the Death Eaters with him were captured." The parents were completely stunned.

Ginny giggled and took advantage of the situation and sat up and kissed Harry passionately. When she stopped, both of her parents were still looking at them in shock. "The 9th of August Harry, I know it's short notice since it's only about six weeks away, but I'd like plenty of time for the honeymoon before the start of next school year."

Though he was a bit uncomfortable doing so in front of her parents, he pulled her close again and kissed her back.

* * *

.


	23. Freedom

Version: 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

**Chapter 23: Freedom**

After Ginny had been released from the hospital later that day, she returned to Grimmauld Place with her parents. Harry still had trouble going there without feeling restless, so when her brother Bill showed up at the hospital, Harry talked Bill into letting him share his flat for the five to six weeks until the wedding. The little room Bill gave him was as small as the one he had stayed in at the Dursleys, but Harry didn't care; there were no bad memories there. Having a place to talk with Ginny that was not in front of her parents was an added bonus.

Harry felt bad that Grimmauld Place would be home for the Weasleys for some time as they couldn't afford to rebuild The Burrow. While he knew that theoretically the Weasleys were always targets for Death Eater activity because they were part of the Order, he also felt that it was really his fault The Burrow had been targeted, so he talked Mr. Weasley into going out to lunch the next day.

They met at the Leaky Cauldron, a place Harry could easily get to. Harry steered them to a booth in the back. "Mr. Weasley, thanks for coming."

"No problem, Harry. What did you want to talk about? I would suspect it's something about the wedding since you did not want to talk about it in front of Molly last night," Ginny's father said with an easy smile.

"Actually, no. I wanted to talk to you about helping with the repairs to The Burrow." When the man started to object, Harry put his hand up to stop him and hastily went on with his reasoning. "Mr. Weasley, I know that you think I shouldn't do this, and that this probably would have happened anyway. That might be true, but my being there last Christmas was the reason they came at that time. It's quite possible the war would have ended before they got around to coming after your family. Since I am a major reason for the damage, I should help with repairs."

"Really now, Harry. You don't need to do that. It's a little inconvenient, but we'll manage, we always have. Besides, I wouldn't want you spending any of your money on this, especially as you're about to start a new life," Mr. Weasley reasoned.

Reaching into his pocket, Harry pulled out a bank draft he had gone to Gringotts for that morning. "Mr. Weasley, what you don't understand is that I have more than enough money. In addition to what my parents left me, I inherited practically everything from Sirius, and the Black family was very well off." Harry put the draft down on the table and slid it over to the man. "Please, take this and rebuild The Burrow. It is home to the Weasley clan, and I think of it as home too."

Arthur looked at the paper and almost fell out of his chair. The bank draft was for 100,000 Galleons. "H-Harry, I can't take this. It's far too much."

"Of course you can, Mr. Weasley. I realise it may be for more than you need to rebuild, but don't forget you'll have to buy a lot of new furnishings too, not just rebuild walls."

"But Harry..."

Harry interrupted him to pull out his ace in the hole. "Mr. Weasley, I'm about to become part of your family, aren't I?" The man nodded. "Then please let me do this. Families do this for each other. You'd do this for me if the situation was reversed, wouldn't you?" Arthur nodded again and Harry could see he had won the argument. "Then allow me do this for you. Or if you prefer, let me do this for Ginny; I know she misses The Burrow too."

The lunch and the discussion went on for a while longer, but Harry had already won. In the end, Arthur said he would put it into the Weasley family vault and repairs would probably start by mid-July.

— — —

At the end of lunch, Harry Floo-called Ginny and had her come to Diagon Alley. As they walked around, they were amazed at all the celebrating going on. Fred and George's business was doing very well; their fireworks were their present top sellers. Harry thought the Ministry workers responsible for Obliviating Muggles were going to be working overtime for the next few days.

During their stroll, they made sure to stop by the watchmaker's shop Ginny had bought his watch from. Harry had looked at it while waiting in the hospital the day before and noticed that the hands had stopped. In addition, Ginny's special hand was frozen on Mortal Peril, when there was no reason for it to be.

Entering the old watchmaker's shop, Harry took off the watch to hand it over. "Hello, my girlfriend, well, fiancée now," Ginny smiled at his change, "bought this watch here. You told her it was spell resistant and everything, yet it's stopped working."

The old man took the watch from Harry and started examining it. "That's very strange, very little can completely ruin one of these." He looked up at Harry and saw the scar on his forehead, causing him to finally recognize the young man. "Are you really Harry Potter?" Harry nodded a little shyly. "Were you wearing this when you fought You-Know-Who?"

Harry sighed at yet another person who wouldn't say Voldemort's name. "Yes."

"First, I must offer my congratulations, Mr. Potter. I appreciate what you did." He smiled and Harry returned it. "Second, I'll happily replace this for you. Just hold on for a few minutes and let me get another one from the back."

The watchmaker came back shortly and pulled a new watch out of the box. "I assume you would like the personal hand to point to your young lady again?"

"Yes," Harry answered. "Also, what could have caused the watch to stop like that?"

The old man smiled at him as he personalized the watch. "As I said, very little could do this. However, there is one known spell guaranteed to cause it to completely malfunction: the Killing Curse."

Harry stared at the old watch lying on the counter as he contemplated how close he'd come to death. He kissed Ginny. "Thanks for the watch, Ginny!"

She grinned at him. "You're always welcome, Harry."

"Would you like something engraved on the back of it?" the old man asked. "I'll do it for free."

Ginny looked thoughtful for a moment before she smiled. "How about: To Harry, my personal hero, Love Ginny." Harry blushed and Ginny put her arm around his waist and pulled him closer.

A few minutes later, Harry walked out with his new watch. The watchmaker smiled as he watched the couple leave. He would put the old watch on display in the shop window with a sign about it saving the Chosen-One's life. It would be an advertiser's dream come true.

* * *

Harry had no clue how the old man had found him, but as he was finishing breakfast the next day, Albus Dumbledore knocked on the door to Bill's apartment. "Harry, would you have a few minutes to talk with me this morning?"

Not really having any special plans yet, Harry invited him in. "Sure, come in and have a seat. Bill's already left for work." While Harry felt better about the old man, he was still a little wary.

"Oh, excellent, that makes it easier. I had a few questions for you, and our discussion might be easier if it's only the two of us," the Professor said as he sat.

Harry had an idea of what was coming, but couldn't figure out how to get out of it. He also felt he should play host too. "I was just finishing breakfast so I have some extra tea. Would you like some?"

"Yes, that's very kind of you." Albus waited patiently and quietly until Harry joined him with two cups of tea. "Thank you, Harry. I trust you're enjoying your summer so far?"

"Ah, yes sir. Not being at the Dursleys is a wonderful thing. I'll be here until my wedding. Oh, Ginny wanted me to ask you if you officiated at weddings."

"Why yes I can. It's one of the privileges of being the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. I'd be happy to do that for you two."

"Thank you sir," Harry told him. "I'll tell her and let you know the exact time later, but the date is presently set for the 9th of August."

"Very good, I'll make sure that day is set aside for your wedding." Dumbledore had more of his tea and then looked at Harry solemnly. "Harry, would you please tell me what happened on the train, everything you can remember. I'd like to know for posterity's sake if nothing else, though I believe I might learn a thing or two as well."

Harry had been right in his guess. Trying not to think about it all too hard, Harry told him the full story. The memory of that fateful day was still a bit painful to relive as he explained how Ginny was hurt, but at least the story did have a happy ending. When Harry has finished, he went into his little room and came back with a small grayish pebble. "This small fragment is all that's left of what was Tom Riddle. Do you think anything could ever be done with it to restore him from it? Should I destroy this too?"

Dumbledore held out his hand. "May I see it?" Harry handed it over. The Professor waved his wand over it a few times before he said, "No, there is no danger from this, but perhaps I can ease your mind a little more," he said with a smile. "May I turn it into a souvenir for your?" Harry nodded and Dumbledore did a spell Harry had never seen before. When the old wizard was finished, the fragment was inside of a glass ball that was flat on the bottom. "For your desk," Dumbledore told him as the old man handed him a new paper weight with the grayish pebble suspended in the middle.

"Thank you, sir."

Dumbledore nodded and got up. "If you'll let me know the final plans for the wedding, I'll see you then, Harry. Have a nice summer with Ms. Weasley."

Harry decided that was a nice idea and called her on the Floo to see what they needed to do today for the wedding.

* * *

By the end of the first week home, Harry wasn't sure they were going to get married this summer after all. After Ginny had basically tricked her mum into agreeing to let them get married, Molly Weasley began having major second thoughts and wanted to take her permission back. Harry didn't think that was very fair, but as Mr. Weasley pointed out him, "Harry, you need to get used to the fact that women do change their minds sometimes."

Harry and Ginny had a long conversation about what to do and how to convince her mother to agree again. Unbeknownst to her, Hermione again saved the day. Looking through the Charms book that Hermione had given him for his last birthday, he saw a memory spell that looked very useful. After even more discussion, they decided it was the only way. After all, they would need Arthur and Molly's permission for Ginny to get married on Saturday the 9th, two days before her sixteenth birthday.

To make the plan work, Harry contacted Remus who was the only non-Weasley person living at Grimmauld Place and asked him to go out for the evening, which he willingly did with Tonks. As the Order of the Phoenix had little to do now, there was no meeting, so only the Weasleys were there. Harry also asked Ron to go elsewhere, like Hermione's, which he gladly did. Finally, Harry worked up his courage and returned to Grimmauld Place for the first time since his difficult episode last Christmas.

After Ginny's parents finished dinner with them, the four of them retired to the living room for the wedding discussion. The conversation during dinner had been quite cordial though everyone seemed to avoid the topic of the wedding. Harry locked the door and threw an Imperturbable Charm on the room to be safe, which raised the elder Weasleys' eyebrows, though they said nothing.

Ginny decided to go straight to the point. "Mum, Dad, we'd like to discuss the wedding with you."

"Ginny," her mum spoke up, "now that I've had time to think about it, I'm all right with you getting married, but I really do believe that you two need to wait until you finish school."

The bride-to-be tried to ignore that for a moment to see how hard this was going to be. "Dad, what's your opinion?"

Her father hesitated before answering. "I think it would be for the best for you to wait, unless you had a very good set of reasons why you shouldn't. I know you really want to get married now, but I'm not sure I know why you think that, so maybe if you could explain it, that would help your Mum and I to understand."

The young couple looked at each other and Ginny sighed, they were going to have to do it apparently. "All right, we're willing to tell you everything you want to know about this, but there is one condition." Her dad raised an eyebrow not expecting that. "The condition is that Harry places a _Celare_ charm on you during the explanation."

"A what?" her parents asked at the same time.

"There is a spell called a _Celare_ charm, which is related to a _Fidelius_. It allows you to know a secret, but hides it in you. Basically, you can know the information but you can't tell it, write it, or communicate it to anyone in anyway. If you're willing to do that, we'll explain everything to you, no matter how embarrassing it is." Ginny did her best to be matter-of-fact about it, but she still had a small blush.

"What could be embarrassing Ginny?" her mother asked her. "Unless you're doing something you're not supposed to be doing."

"No Mum, we haven't had sex yet, but we will be dancing around the topic a lot, which is embarrassing for me, not to mention how Harry will feel about it all since it's his future parents-in-law." Harry was looking down and thankful Ginny was doing the talking for the moment.

Molly couldn't stop herself. "But why does the reason for the wedding have to be so secret?"

"I can't tell you that," her daughter replied, "without telling you the secret. So do you want to know or not? Frankly, we'd prefer not to have to explain it all and have you just continue on and let us have the wedding next month, but we will explain it to you with the condition."

"What if we don't agree to the condition?" her mum sounded like she was being threatened, her verbal hackles raised.

"Then Harry and I will be forced to do something else." Both of her parents looked alarmed at that. "No, I'm not trying to blackmail you or anything, but we do want you to know that we are very serious about this. We don't know what we'll do, but we'll figure something out. Finding a country where we can legally marry anyway would be my first choice, but I'm sure there are other alternatives."

"Ginny!" Her mother was shocked.

"Do you understand how serious we are now?" her daughter asked.

"I will accept your condition," her dad told them in a attempt to stop the argument. "I really don't like this, but if you're going to be this foolhardy, then I would like to know why."

The young couple looked at Mrs. Weasley. After a few moments she finally gave an exasperated sigh. "Very well, I agree. I can't believe you're doing this though."

Harry reached to his left and grabbed Ginny's hand. She looked at him and they stared at one another for a few seconds before she nodded. He pulled his wand out and held it in front of him as he asked, "Are you sure? This is your last chance to back out." Both parents told him to go ahead, so he started the incantation. During the complex wand movement, he waved his wand around all four of them and a band of white air or fog came out of his wand and encircled them. Touching his wand to each of the parents' foreheads, he finally said, "Tell anyone you may not," just before he ended the incantation, though the band of white was still around them all.

The parents looked alarmed when he finished. "Is something wrong?" Harry asked.

"We lost all hearing for a moment," Molly exclaimed.

"Oh? The book didn't mention that. Thanks for letting me know, I'll mark that in the margins so I know for next time," the young man told her.

"But why?"

"That was at the end, right?" She nodded. "That was so you wouldn't hear the code words that lock in the spell. I have to remember those in case I ever want to undo it. By the way, everything said until I stop the spell you can remember, but you just can't ever communicate it, not even to each other or us." Harry waited for other questions but they had none.

"So, ready?" Ginny asked nervously. They nodded. "It all started about this time last year when we were attacked on Platform 9 ¾. Remember that?" They again nodded. "We can't tell you exactly what happened but during that time, a magical bond developed between Harry and myself."

"Why don't you know?" her mum asked.

"Because we don't, no one knows. Healer Davies is the only other person who knows about this and he has been sworn to secrecy too. He told us we are only the seventh case of this type of bond in the last thousand years." That made both of her parents sit up straighter and look at each other. "So while we can tell you some things, there are other things we can not because we just don't know the answer."

"This bond, as you call it, is the reason you think you need to get married so soon?" Her mum still looked puzzled.

"Yes, mum, please let me continue. This bond is called a _life bond_, or sometimes a _love bond_, or so we're told. It has a few interesting attributes."

"Like what?" her dad finally spoke up.

Harry decided to give Ginny a break. "Like we have an absolute awareness of the other. I know without a doubt this is my Ginny. You could have her and a hundred other girls on Polyjuice to look just like her in a room and I could pick the real Ginny out of that crowd about as fast as I could walk to her. She has the same ability with regards to me." Arthur looked impressed.

"Have you ever wondered how we beat Voldemort, Mr. Weasley? How two teenagers, with a combined eleven years of studying magic, could beat a man who has studied magic and the Dark Arts for over forty years?" Harry looked at him waiting for an answer.

"You said you used those two special spirit or soul spells on him," the older man replied.

"That was the ultimate cause of his destruction, but we had to kill his body first. Have you considered how we were able to best him in a duel?" Harry still wondered if anyone outside of the ones who trained with them had actually considered this question.

"Dumbledore said you two were very powerful," Arthur finally told him.

Harry smiled. "Each of us is for our age, but individually we couldn't hope to match Voldemort, though individually, we didn't do too badly for a short while. That being said, because of our bond, we naturally power share, except even that is not quite right. When we touch like we are now and do spells, they are several times more powerful then our two magical levels combined. That raw power is how we beat him, and all of our trainers too."

"Seriously?" Arthur was in amazement.

"Yes, sir. In fact, in our training sessions at the end of the year, the two of us were able to regularly beat Professors Tonks, Cobb, and Lupin in a three-on-two duel. We could even beat them when Professor Dumbledore joined them as long as they were all in front of us and didn't surround us." The parents were stunned silent.

"While that is all interesting to you I'm sure," Ginny said, "the part that matters about the wedding is that the bond also allows us to know what the other is feeling. A good example of this is last Christmas when Harry had his difficulty. You mum, thought he was scared from the fight, and from looking at him I can understand why you thought that. However, if you'll remember, I told you he was angry. I knew that because I could sense that from him directly. Of course, it's rarely that simple as everyone projects multiple feelings at the same time, but most people usually have one or two primary feelings that are the basis of how they act at that moment."

"So," her mum tried to come to grips with all this, "you're telling me you always know how he feels?"

"Yes, well, mostly. There are times I can't tell, but it's very hard to mask feelings." Ginny shrugged, not sure how else to explain it.

"About the only time I can't feel Ginny's emotions are when she's very neutral, like when she's asleep, or when my emotions are so strong then I can't find her emotions, like when I'm very angry during a fight. They get lost in mine I presume," Harry said.

"That's very unusual," her dad told them, "but what does that have to do with the wedding?"

"Probably the most powerful feeling is love, wouldn't you say?" Her dad nodded his agreement as Ginny tried to explain. "So imagine what happens when I feel Harry's love for me, and then I project my love back to Harry."

Neither parent said anything, so Harry tried to explain. "What happens is we get into a feedback loop." Still no look of recognition. "When we start feeling the love from the other, it returns back to them, but stronger, which the other feels and returns stronger still, and so on back and forth stronger each time until it's almost unstoppable." A look of comprehension was starting to dawn on their faces.

Ginny tried a different way, "Mum, it's like when Dad goes on a trip for awhile. How do both of you feel when he returns after a week?" Neither answered but Molly blushed a bit. "Take that feeling and multiply it several times, but don't allow yourselves to do anything but hold hands and kiss. If you can imagine that, you'll get close to how we feel right now. We think we can wait for sex until the wedding date I've set as is tradition, but in all honesty, we have so much pressure on us from the bond, I don't know that we can wait much beyond that."

Her parents just looked at each other for a moment, Harry and Ginny gave them time to think. Her dad finally looked back and asked, "Is there anything else about this bond we need to know?"

"It does do one other thing for us," his daughter said. "You remember I called it a _life bond?_" They nodded. "It is that literally. Our lives are tied. Healer Davies said that when one of us dies, the other will follow very shortly thereafter too."

"No!" her mother exclaimed.

"I'm sorry you see it that way," Harry told her, "but it's really a good thing to me." He could see she was about to tell him how wrong he was. "I know this isn't a fun topic, Mrs. Weasley, but think about how you'd feel if your husband were to die first." He could see a little bit of sadness come over her face. "I know that I'll feel that same way, but I also know that it won't last very long at all, and that very soon I'll be joining her on _the next great adventure_ as Professor Dumbledore calls it. We'll essentially go together, and I think that's a good thing." Molly was thinking this through and a more understanding looking was replacing the look of sadness.

"That also makes us very protective of each other," Ginny told them. She exchanged a look of love with Harry.

"I can well imagine," her dad told her. "Is there anything else, or is that it?"

"That's it, Dad. So between our ability to share feeling which puts us on an emotional high that's very hard to ignore, and our life connection which makes us want to share every moment together, do you now see why we want to get married very soon?"

"I can't say I'm happy about all this, but I do understand." Her dad sounded a bit resigned. "I suppose you might as well get married then."

"Arthur!"

"Molly, if I don't like this, then I know you don't either. But you do understand what they're saying, don't you?" She didn't respond. "If they don't get married the normal way, they will either get married some other way or act like they're married. Which of the three choices do you prefer?"

"None of them Arthur, it's not normal."

"But they're not normal, Molly. You heard Dumbledore, they haven't led normal lives." That caught the young people off guard, and they wondered what else Dumbledore had said to the Weasley parents about them. "They are not normal teenagers. In the hospital, you acknowledged Ginny had grown up, and I agree. So, this is one of the results of her growing up."

Molly finally looked up at her husband. "Arthur, we really shouldn't argue about this here in front of them."

Harry wanted to point out that wasn't an option but didn't want to say anything; fortunately, Mr. Weasley thought of that. "I'm sorry, Molly dear, but because of the special spell we're under, we have to discuss it now and come to a decision."

Mrs. Weasley sighed and thought for a few moments. "Very well, Ginny. I'll give my permission and help you with the wedding if you'll promise to wait until your wedding night. I guess that's about as close to normal as I'm going to get."

"Mum, even with what Harry and I both feel, I'd like it to work that way too. So yes, I'll promise." The two women hugged, though Harry hung onto Ginny's hand so the spell would continue. "Is there anything else you want to ask us while you can before Harry ends the spell?" The parents looked at each other then both of them shook their head.

Harry lifted his wand and spoke the second part of the incantation, finally waving it in a circle, which caused the white band to shrink down to nothing around the parents. Deciding this was important enough to invade privacy, Harry tried to read Mr. Weasley's thoughts when he asked him, "So Mr. Weasley, will you please tell me the details of why we want to get married?"

He watched Arthur try to form the thought. In his mind, there appeared to be a non-descript silvery ball that looked to be too large for an opening so it couldn't get out. "You know Harry, it's, uh, important." The man looked surprised at his answer.

"Good, I was just checking." Harry smiled at Ginny. "The charm appears to work just fine." With that behind them, the wedding was again back on track. In fact, Harry found Mrs. Weasley to again be the mum he'd always wanted as she threw herself into planning and arranging the wedding. Even Ginny had a good time working with her.

* * *

As the month of July continued, and Harry and Ginny were madly making wedding plans, Harry became aware of how much love was in the air. Ron proposed to Hermione, who gladly accepted, though their wedding would not be until next summer. On one of his rare trips to Grimmauld Place, Harry was talking to Remus who admitted that things were getting serious with Tonks. During an inspired moment, Harry solved two problems at once. He told Remus he would give Grimmauld Place to him as a wedding present as soon as it was officially his, and Harry hinted that now Remus needed to do something. After he got over his shock, Remus grinned at Harry. "Thanks for the motivation".

July was also a month of interesting news, some favorable and some not, but interesting nonetheless.

Harry received offers from several Quidditch teams to quit school and play professional Quidditch. None of them were very good teams so he assumed it was more for publicity than anything else. He turned them all down with an "Ask me again next year after I finish school".

Professor McGonagall sent him a note by owl requesting him to come by for a visit on the morning of the 21st of July. He Flooed to the Headmaster's office and not only did she greet him there, but he noticed the office had undergone several changes.

She smiled at him and his recognition of the changes. "Yes Harry, Professor Dumbledore has retired and I'm now Headmistress. Don't worry, Professor Dumbledore will still be around as he has become a Professor Emeritus. He will be doing guest lectures in Transfiguration, Defense, and Charms from time to time. He wanted to stay in the castle and pass down knowledge and I thought that was an excellent idea." Harry nodded acknowledgement.

McGonagall jumped right to the point as was her habit. "Harry, would you like to be Head Boy this coming year?"

That shocked Harry, but he could see that was not really unexpected as he probably did have one the highest averages for marks in his year, even over many of the Ravenclaws. More importantly, none of then already had a single NEWT much less five. Then there was his work with the DA, which he assumed showed he had leadership skills, since he hadn't been a prefect. "I would be honored, but I really don't know," he told her honestly.

"If you'd forgotten, the Head Boy does have a private room; that might be useful to you." She held up his wedding invitation that had been sitting on her desk.

With all the wedding plans and other business this summer, he'd forgotten that special rooming would be extremely useful when they were married. "Would Ginny be allowed to live there too?"

McGonagall smiled and answered, "Yes, and the Amorous Monitor on the room would be removed since you would be married." He wondered what other living arrangements he could arrange if he refused, like maybe a guest suite; but there was something about the look on her face that prevented him from asking.

"Professor, who would the Head Girl be?" It could be either Hermione or Ginny because of grades, at least theoretically.

The Headmistress smiled as she understood why he'd asked. "It will be Miss Granger. In some ways I'm sorry because if Ginny was picked, that would give you an entire apartment; but it is Miss Granger's natural year so she is the choice. The Head Boy room might be a bit small and cozy, but it should do. Besides your private room which has its own water closet, there will also be the common room and a bathroom shared with the Head Girl. As I know the three of you get along so well, I thought that would work out. What do you think, Mr. Potter?"

In some ways Harry didn't feel like he had much choice, so in the end he told her, "I'll take the position."

"Very good, I appreciate you making my job easier" She smiled at him. "I do have a few other items of business to discuss with you. The first is merely something for you to think about over the coming year." Harry wondered what this was going to be with an introduction like that.

"I remember you telling me you were considering being an Auror, and I do believe you'd make a fine one if that's what you want to do. Do you still feel like pursuing that profession?"

"Honestly ma'am?" McGonagall nodded. "I'm not sure anymore."

She again smiled as if things were going her way. "No real hurry, but I do have a few thoughts for you to consider. I've also heard you say that professional Quidditch might be an option if an offer was made. In my opinion, if you play well this year, which I fully expect you to, you will have a number of such offers." Having seen a few already, he could imagine that being true.

"You might want to consider taking one of those offers. I understand such a career usually lasts for ten to fifteen years, barring major injury. Around that time, I would expect Professor Flitwick, who has just accepted the Deputy Headmaster position, would probably be stepping down. There would be an opening such that you could come back here, take that Deputy Headmaster position and teach any course you felt comfortable teaching, such as Defense," she said with a smile. "You should also know that I plan to be stepping down about five years or so after that time, which would leave the Headmaster position open for a knowledgeable young man to step into."

Harry was astounded to hear that career path laid out. "I'm quite surprised, Headmistress. I don't know how to even begin evaluating that." It wasn't until he said that that he remembered Hermione mentioning such a possibility just about this time last year.

"That's all right, Harry," she said politely. "As I said, it's something for you to think about it. Talk it over with your wife after you restart school. No need to bother her with this while she's rushing to put a wedding together, especially as this wouldn't happen anytime soon. We can talk about it some more next June when you have finished your last year."

"Uh, yeah, sure." Harry really was blown away by thinking on that timescale. So much of his life had been spent just trying to get to his next birthday.

"One last important thing. Please be sure to tell Ginny that I'm granting her request to double up some of her classes and make this coming year her last one if she still wants to do that. She'll need to take some classes via Pensieve to catch up. Professor Dumbledore has said the small Pensieve he bought for your training last year is now yours to do with as you wish, so you have that available to you. I know the expense of the lessons will not be an issue for you either. While I'm sorry to give her one more thing to do, she'll need to owl myself or Professor Cobb with her decision before you two leave on your honeymoon."

"Professor Cobb will be the new Gryffindor head-of-house?"

"Yes he will," she told him. "He's decided he likes this relaxed pace of life in his retirement from being an Auror. It also gives him time for research. Oh, that reminds me; I assume you'll take the position of Quidditch captain for this coming year? It's all yours as the most veteran player."

In all the hustle and bustle, Harry had forgotten about the captaincy opening up. "I would be honored by that too, though I wonder if Ron would make a better one. I know it would mean more to him than it would to me."

McGonagall looked surprised by that answer, but she acknowledged him with a nod and by telling him, "Why don't you talk about it with Ron and owl Professor Cobb. Again, before the wedding please." They talked about a few other pleasantries before Harry left. He wondered what Ginny would think of this development.

* * *

Both Harry and Ginny had received invitations from Minister for Magic Bones informing them their presence was required Friday the 25th of July at an awards ceremony. Harry wanted to run away to avoid all the publicity, and in many ways, so did Ginny, but she pointed out to him that if he didn't go to this one, the Minister would probably hound him all the more. When he started to argue again, she flat out told him, "Don't be a baby and just do it, Potter!" After he recovered from his shock, he told her "Yes dear." She kissed him to make him feel better.

It was worth going to though because not only did both of them receive the highest Wizarding award created, an Order of Merlin First Class with Special Distinction, but they also learned the news that all the captured Death Eaters were convicted and sentenced to life in Azkaban. To the couple's delight, Draco Malfoy was included in that group for his part in the plot, including his attack on other students. Lucius Malfoy was not included as he had died of injuries. Of all the Death Eater lieutenants, only Severus Snape survived, and he would be spending the rest of his life in prison.

Because Peter Pettigrew could now be accounted for, it was announced that all charges against Sirius Black were dropped and his name was cleared. Sirius's will was also finally probated and Harry officially took ownership of Grimmauld Place and everything in it, the small tropical island west of Morocco plus the small house on it, and close to three million Galleons as Sirius was the last of the Blacks and held the entire fortune. Harry promptly signed number twelve Grimmauld Place over to Lupin, and told him everything in it was his too. Though Harry did request of Remus that if he ever found any journals from Sirius or his dad there, he'd like to have those.

As July ended and Harry turned seventeen, there was a great birthday party in the backyard of the mostly fixed Burrow. It was a dual party so they could celebrate Ginny's sixteenth too, since she would be gone on her honeymoon on her actual birthday. The two decided not to give one another presents but instead buy something on their honeymoon together, which would be a trip to the small tropical island Sirius had owned.

Harry had ignored their decision on presents and as he sent her home late that evening, he gave her a small box to take with her. In her bedroom, she opened it to find a very small two piece bathing suit. Back at Bill's flat in the small spare bedroom, Harry could feel her embarrassment at seeing it. He sent her his feeling on what he thought he would feel when he saw her wearing it, and again to his surprise he felt the same desire returned. He was glad they were getting married in another nine days.

The time with Bill had worked out so well, Harry had asked Bill to stand up with him at the party, along with Ron who was his best man, and Neville. Harry didn't dare ask the twins; that would have been begging for trouble.

The next morning, which was Friday the 1st of August, Tonks took him down to the Ministry of Magic for his Apparation testing. They'd worked hard on it over the last month, which paid off when Harry passed with ease.

After his test was over and he was no longer nervous, Harry noticed a ring on Tonks' finger. Tonks blushed as she told him, "Remus got courageous last night after your party. I think we'll have our wedding during the Christmas holidays."

Harry gave her a hug. "Congratulations, Tonks! I'm so happy for you. I guess my giving him the house really did motivate him."

She raised an eyebrow, "Oh? I didn't know about that." A mischievous look then came over her.

As Harry Apparated to The Burrow to go see his fiancée, he imagined Remus was going to have a very interesting evening.

His interesting evening was coming in eight more days.

* * *

.


	24. Bliss

Version: 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

_{A/N 2006: Here starts the second part of the story. While it's mostly fun times and fluff, alas for Harry, trouble still seeks him out from time to time._

_From here on, Harry and Ginny are married, which has its own set of problems for me, the author. If this were on American TV, it would have the "S14" symbol in the corner, but it should be "filmable" as is. I endeavor to keep the story near the PG13 level for wider readership, but be aware I will go right up to that line by implying everything I won't explicitly mention. :-) I will not get into "R" rated material._

_Also, I do occasionally have flashbacks. While I try to make that plain in the text, I also do:_

_vvv_  
_flashback part_  
^^^

_in case it's not obvious. Enjoy! - kb}_

**Chapter 24: Bliss**

Harry was back at Hogwarts in an old classroom not too far from the Great Hall. It was his private dressing room for the morning of the 9th of August. The wedding was a little less than an hour away. He carefully took out his clothes from the wardrobe; they looked like a combination between Wizarding dress robes and a Muggle tuxedo. Ginny had picked them out for him and he had to admit they did look nice. Not that anyone would notice him he thought; she would be so stunning in her bridal gown. She'd shown it to him last week. He stepped behind a screen and began to change.

The guest list was so large they had to have the wedding in the Great Hall of Hogwarts. Fortunately, Professor McGonagall was happy to accommodate them. Ginny wasn't the least bit taken aback that the Dursleys were left off the guest list Harry had given her. Since they had wanted nothing to do with the Wizarding world, she wasn't surprised Harry hadn't invited them or gone back to see them since he had returned home from school. She had no idea what the Dursleys thought about Harry not coming home for the summer since he should have been there; but because he didn't care, she hadn't either.

As he slowly changed, he thought about everything that had happened this summer, besides all the dancing in the streets after the news of Voldemort's death was released. It had been a busy summer. This last week had gone by pretty quickly too, much like his dressing time.

Knowing he still had some extra time and that he didn't want to mingle with any guests, Harry conjured up a pot of tea. He had barely taken his first sip when there was a knock on the door and Albus Dumbledore came in. Harry quickly conjured up another cup and offered it to the old man. Harry felt honored to have the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot marry them.

"Thank you, Harry," he said as the young man offered him the tea. "Since we have some time and I could see through the door window that you were ready, I thought I might tell you a few things you may find useful."

Harry was again on relatively good terms with the Professor. "Certainly. What's on your mind?"

"Actually, I suppose the first thing I might mention is really a request for a small favor." Harry raised an eyebrow at that. Dumbledore reached into his robe and pulled out a small card. "I was wondering if you might sign this chocolate frog card for me?" Harry took the proffered card and looked at it. It was the second one he'd seen. Ron had shown him the first frog card with his picture on it. It was the picture from the presentation of the Order of Merlin. Looking around, he saw no quill. "Oh how thoughtless of me, here ..." Dumbledore conjured a quill for Harry, which he used to sign the card before handing it back.

"I didn't realise you collected those, Professor."

"Oh yes, every man needs a hobby. I've got the whole collection with every card signed by the person, except for the few who were issued posthumously of course. Fame does occasionally have its uses." The old man smiled at the thought. "This card will be the last one I add to the collection before I give it away." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled at Harry as he said that.

"Why's that, Professor?"

"As I mentioned some time back, I do have far too many things. One of the tasks I've set for myself this coming year is go through my possessions and give some of them away. I think you'll find a few things I have useful, while others are merely fun."

"Why give them to me? Surely you have other family, even distant relatives, beyond your brother, who would like to have them."

"Sadly, I do not. Aberforth will receive some items obviously, but I have a small confession for you Harry. In many ways I've always seen you as my unofficial apprentice. Someone I can pass on my knowledge to."

"Really?"

"Yes. If you'll let me, I'd like to teach at least one of your independent study courses this coming year to do just that. You might find it useful for another reason than besides being simply interesting."

That got Harry's curiosity. "What would that be Professor?"

"I believe the Headmistress mentioned a possible career path for you?"

Harry knew he shouldn't be surprised at what the old man knew, but he still was. Then another thought occurred to him, perhaps it was the ex-Headmaster who'd come up with the idea. "Yes, she did mention there might be some vacancies here in the distant future."

The old man smiled at that. "I'd like to share some things with you about the castle and other generally useful knowledge that would come in handy to someone who was Headmaster. Of course, if you take one of the other paths through life, perhaps the information could be useful there too. Alas, you just never know what life will bring."

"No sir, I suppose not."

"Tell me Harry, while there are never any guarantees because the choice is always up to the bird, would you like Fawkes for a companion if he so chose?"

Now Harry was really surprised. It was the offer of a lifetime, yet Dumbledore was undoubtedly correct it was up to the bird and not him. "I would be honored to be chosen."

"I'll let him know. Fawkes is fond you, you know. One never knows when he will chose a new companion; maybe in your lifetime, then again maybe not for several lifetimes to come." The old man seemed to lose himself in thought for a moment. Harry knew they still had a few more minutes to wait, so he was in no hurry.

"Harry, there is one more thing I must tell you." The pause after that statement was long enough Harry started to wonder if something really bad was coming. "I want you to know that I've always cared about you, even if I haven't been the best at showing it. I've watched you grow and do many amazing things, but what I most admire about you is the man you've become, an upstanding man of character and of courage. What I find most remarkable is that you've done it despite my many mistakes ... and some of them were really enormous ones like ..."

Harry saw tears starting to form at the corner of the old man's eyes as he started listing them. That he would admit he made mistakes with Harry drove a stake into the heart of Harry's grudge against the old man.

— — —

Molly Weasley was outside the door of Harry's ready room. "Ginny, if you're not going to get them out of there, at least let me do it. We're supposed to be starting in five minutes."

"Mum," Ginny put her hands on her hips so like her mother that her dad had to put his hand over his mouth to suppress his laughter, "don't even think about it." She could feel the emotional struggle between forgiveness and dislike going through Harry as he thought about fully forgiving the former Headmaster. She knew he needed to do that and she was going to give him the opportunity.

"But Ginny ..." Molly started to walk towards the door.

"No Mum!" Ginny pulled out her wand to make her point. "Harry needs to forgive Dumbledore first and the guests can just wait."

"How do you know that's what's happening in there?" Molly wanted to know.

Realising her slip, Ginny had to think fast. Hoping the old joke worked one more time, she authoritatively said, "Body language."

"Body language?"

"Yes Mum, body language. You do know what that is don't you?" It was all Hermione could do not to burst out laughing. Everyone else there just looked at each other, seeming to think that the bride had finally lost it from all the stress.

— — —

"... I'm sure there's more Harry, but if you forgive me at least for those mistakes, I would be eternally grateful," the ex-Headmaster finished up.

Harry didn't know what to say. The man had listed everything important Harry could have imagined, from the Dursleys to trusting Snape. In the end, it actually wasn't that hard; he really did like him like a grandfather. "Yes Professor, I forgive you for everything."

To the old man's surprise, the groom got up and gave him a hug. "Thank you, Harry. That means a lot to me. Now, I've kept you here far too long as you have something important to do. We must go out, as there is a very pretty red-head that keeps looking in the door for you. There is no need to keep her waiting another minute."

Ginny was saved from having to explain "body language" to her mum because the two men finally came out of the room. She hugged Harry and whispered to him, "I'm so glad you did that, Harry."

He looked at her and dried his eyes. "Me too." With a big smile he whispered to her, "Let's go start a new life, my love." Harry knew he would be happy with Ginny. He knew she loved him and that made life good.

* * *

It had been extremely difficult because they were so sleepy, but Harry and Ginny had managed to get out of bed this morning to start their travels. First, he and Ginny Side-Along-Apparated to the international Apparation point in London. From there they went to Paris, France; then to Madrid, Spain; onward to Rabat, Morocco; and finally to the Canary Islands. Once they arrived there, they took a taxi to the docks where they met Clive and Madeline, or Maddie as she preferred to be called.

Clive and Maddie did a little bit of everything Harry found out, which included taking care of the island the Black family had bought, keeping it rented out, and ferrying people there. Harry wasn't sure how it all worked, but they were Muggles who managed to get there even though the island was Unplottable and had Muggle repellant charms. After some careful questioning, Clive told him the Blacks had given him a special compass to find the island, and that once he'd tried without the special compass and he hadn't been able to find it. So Harry assumed it was a magical object that gave them temporary exemption from the Unplottable Wards when used.

The couple had been very pleasant and had acknowledged Harry as the new owner once Harry had shown his passport, which matched the information in the letter Clive had received in the mail detailing the ownership change. After the business had been taken care of, Harry and Ginny were told to make themselves at home anywhere on the thirty-five foot boat as there was a two hour boat ride to get to the island. They sat in the shade up front and proceeded to make themselves comfortable and enjoy the nearness of the other for the next couple of hours.

Harry Potter was feeling very relaxed as the boat slowly made its way through the water. Of course, he had good reasons to be relaxed. To an observer, it would be hard to tell if the smile on his face was caused by this nice environment or by the pretty redhead who was doing her best to curl up on his lap like a cat and was slowly caressing his face and the side of his head.

It was mid-morning on the 10th of August and they'd been married a little less than twenty-four hours. The wedding ceremony itself had been quite short yesterday, a little less than ten minutes. Part of Harry wondered why they'd even bothered with such a big to-do for such a short event. It was a normal wizard's type wedding, which looked much like a Muggle wedding. Of course, the reception had lasted for hours and that was the big social event. While he knew at least one person from many of the families who'd come, because most of the guests had been fellow students and family, there were also a significant number he didn't recognize. Most of those were from the Ministry of Magic and were known by Arthur Weasley, he presumed.

The ceremony had started at one o'clock in the afternoon, and by six o'clock he'd been ready to run screaming from the room. He was tired of being surrounded by all the people, many of which congratulated him on killing Voldemort; their congratulations on his getting married appeared as an afterthought. Fortunately, his bride was starting to feel the same way. They managed to make their way to the stage area where the teacher's table normally was and with a _Sonorus_ they thanked everyone for coming and told them to stay as long as they liked or until the Headmistresses kicked them out Hogwarts, which got a lot of laughs. They ducked into a side room and told their families goodbye before they Flooed to Bill's apartment where Harry had been spending the summer for the last six weeks. After changing clothes, they grabbed their one suitcase with many shrunken items and went downstairs to grab a cab to a very nice Muggle hotel where they'd spent their wedding night.

Harry had described his first kiss with Ginny just over a year ago as "Wow!" but he wasn't sure how to describe his wedding night. "Unbelievable!" seemed to be the best he could do with a single word. What made it even better was that Ginny was his wife and he'd get to spend the rest of his life with her, it wasn't just a one time thing.

Ginny broke into his thoughts. "Sorry dear, you're going to have to wait until we get to the island for more of that," she told him.

He smiled and kissed the top of her head. She'd obviously picked up on his feelings. "Sounds good, luv, but I was only thinking about last night."

"OK," she languidly told him as she continued to very slowly play with his medium length messy dark hair. She sent him thoughts of love as well as what she'd like to do to him. She also relaxed in her thoughts about finally fulfilling her dream for the last year: she was now Mrs. Harry Potter.

— — —

When they arrived at the island, Clive took them up to the small two bedroom house with a small kitchen and eating area, as well as a nice front porch with a big hammock. Though small, the house seemed to have everything they needed, including food supplies for the three weeks they'd be there. Clive also showed them a radio they could use in case of emergency, but pointed out that they would have to be careful to avoid any major accidents, as help would usually be several hours away. When he asked if there was anything else they needed before he and Maddie left, Harry put his arm around Ginny's waist and shook his head. With a smile, Clive told him he understood about wanting to be alone with a beautiful blushing bride. He looked at Maddie who coloured prettily; Ginny followed suit when Harry looked at her.

When Clive and Maddie left, Ginny told husband, "Harry? Why don't you take our suitcase into the bedroom and change into your swimsuit, grab the beach umbrella on the porch, and go down to the beach. I'll make some sandwiches, change, then come down too."

"Sure." Harry thought that sounded reasonable so he started on that.

Once he got to the beach, it took him awhile to get the umbrella setup properly so it didn't blow over in the breeze, but he eventually did it. As he was about to sit underneath it, he saw Ginny come out of the palm tree covered path and onto the beach with her picnic basket. But what really caught his eye was the bikini she was wearing. It was the little number he'd gotten her for her birthday that he'd transfigured to match the color of her hair. The bikini barely covered all the places it was supposed to, and he felt it was physically impossible for it to get any smaller and not show something. He was mesmerized.

As she reached him at the umbrella, she very sweetly asked, "Harry? Would you please spread this lotion on me?" as she handed him a bottle of suntan lotion. He accepted it still with a stunned look on his face and he decided right then he was going to get to know every freckle on her, even if it took all three weeks to do so.

* * *

Twenty days later, the couple was back on the boat heading back to the Canary Islands to travel back to England, or more specifically, The Burrow for the day and a half they had before they went back to Hogwarts. Both of them considered the trip a success and didn't want to go back.

vvv

_The first highlight of their honeymoon, at least in Harry's mind as he sat on the boat thinking about it, came on the second day they were there, or more accurately, their first morning there._

Harry woke up feeling very relaxed, everything was going well. When he rolled over, his hand found nothing. That jolted him awake. Reaching out for her, his senses told him she was in the direction of the bathroom, so he waited for her. A few moments later, she came out wearing nothing but a smile.

"Hi luv," he told her. "Is that smile for me?"

She laughed. "How do you know I'm smiling, you're not wearing your glasses."

"So? I can still see you in all your glory," he kidded her.

Her face changed to one that was puzzled. "You can see me? Clearly?"

"Sure, I've got contact lenses. How did you think I fought Voldemort when he took my glasses away from me?" He thought she knew. "It was Tonks' idea to help protect me."

She became instantly angry. "When were you ever going to tell me?!"

Ginny in a full blown wrath was something to behold. Seeing her that way while also totally starkers was something else, and that got Harry into even more trouble as he found it amusing and couldn't keep it off his face, which she didn't like.

"What are you smiling about?!" she all but yelled and slowly advanced to him.

"I'm sorry Ginny, I really thought you knew. You spend so much time looking into my eyes." That slowed her fury down a little. "And I'm smiling about you." Now she stopped at the foot of the bed with a puzzled look. "You don't even know how beautiful you are, do you? And in some ways, you're even more so when you're angry, I thought so even last year when I picked a fight with you over being fair during the Quidditch game at your house."

She lost all her angry aggressiveness now. "You do? You did? I mean, you really fought with me on purpose back then?"

"Yeah, at the time, I had no idea why I baited you like that, but yes, I purposely wound you up to have fun with you. I also thought you were incredibly cute when you were angry at me too. Now I know I did it because I already liked you, though I was too blind to realise it at the time."

She smiled at him. Her anger forgotten, she slowly crawled back into bed and over to him. "Tell me more about what you thought back then." All thoughts about their first fight were gone, soon they were back into the land of newlyweds.

— — —

_The second highlight of the honeymoon had come on the evening of the second full day._

They'd gone down to the beach after a nice dinner to lie on a blanket and to listen to the ocean while they basked in the last rays of the day's sun. Harry was spending the time on her right arm and hand, on what he'd dubbed _Project Freckles_.

He didn't know if it was the light, or if he'd just never paid that close attention to her hand, but he saw a wide and light fuzzy silver band across the bottom part of her palm. It was very faint, but something about it looked familiar. Looking at it more closely, he realised it ran to the side of her hand too, and finally all the way around her hand including each finger and her thumb. "Hey Gin, have you ever noticed this band around your hand before?"

"What?" she asked, and he showed her. "Oh yeah, I noticed that some time back."

"Oh, where did it come from?"

"Not sure," she commented. "It hasn't always been there, I think I first noticed it somewhere near the beginning of last school year ..." She trailed off and started to look at him a bit quizzically. "Do you suppose this came from our bond?"

"That would make sense," he told her. "I've always wondered why I have three marks but you only have two. That would be the third that matches the handprint on my chest."

She moved her hand up and matched it to the mark on his chest. Looking around at it, she finally said, "Yes, at the edge of my hand where the mark is, is where my hand touches your chest. It's like something came together there."

"A magic mark signifying the bond?" he wondered.

"Sure, why not. I can't think of anything else it could be." She finally smiled up at him. "I'm glad you noticed that. I like it that I match you."

"You match me in so many ways, Gin. Everything just feels so right when you're with me."

Ginny gave him a throaty laugh. "You're just saying that ..."

"No really!" he stopped her. "Your hand fits so well in mine. When we're standing and I'm holding you, you seem to mold to me so nicely. And well, I can talk to you too, I always had trouble talking to girls before I met you. We just go together Gin, like we were made for the other." Harry watched her watch him. She'd stayed on her side looking at him and from her face he could tell she was obviously thinking about what he said. Then he saw her sit up and look around. A slow grin came to her face. He didn't know what she was looking at as there was nothing special to be seen around them, and it fact it was getting harder to see as the sun had set a few minutes ago and the light was quickly leaving.

Finally she spoke to him. "I think I have to agree Mr. Potter, though I think we need to double-check our fit together one more way as I can't quite remember."

"How's that?" he asked. As she reached up and slowly pulled the strings holding her light blue bikini on, he understood and didn't ask any more questions for a while. This was worthwhile research.

— — —

_The third and biggest highlight of the honeymoon had come at the end of the first week._

They'd been in the bedroom having just woken up from a nap during the hottest part of the afternoon when Ginny had said, "I wished I could know you as well as I know myself."

Without thinking about it because everything had been going so well and he was so relaxed, Harry told her, "You can if you want."

She gave him that cute smile he liked. "I doubt it, but I'm willing to take a lifetime to try."

"You can know now, my love, look into my eyes and come into me. I don't need my shield walls anymore, I'll drop them and then you can come in if you really want to, though I'll warn you there's some pretty ugly stuff in there."

It finally dawned on her what he meant. "Are you serious? You'd let me see all your memories?"

"Only if you want to," he told her.

She considered what it would really mean. How well she'd get to know him, warts and all. Did she really want that? Would it destroy her image of him? Of course, she would get to know him much better and understand why he did the things he did. "Yes Harry," she finally told him. "I want to know the real you; and if you want, I'll let you know the real me, flaws and all."

Harry didn't say anything to that. He closed his eyes for a moment and his face changed as if he was concentrating very hard. Finally he opened his eyes back up and looked at her. "OK Ginny, if you want, come into me and be me."

Taking a deep breath Ginny looked him squarely in the eyes and spoke _Legilimens_ and felt herself being pulled into Harry's world. His memories went flashing by: their wedding night and she saw their relationship from a man's point of view, the battle with Voldemort and her injury with how much he cared about her when she'd been hurt and afraid for her life, she saw his friendship with Ron and Hermione as it really was, all his adventures, an infatuation with Cho Chang, a hard life with the Dursleys. There was even a special place off to the side that that seemed to pulse and in there she found all things Voldemort. Deep down she saw Harry as he really was: a being who was magic and who had a rope that was connected to a little red haired girl. Yes, there were many ugly things in his life, but there was a wondrous person underneath, one with a pure heart who loved her with all his being, and a person who would move heaven and earth, if it was required, to keep her safe.

She stopped the spell and pushed herself toward him to hold him as tightly as possible while she cried. She suspected he was probably confused as she felt both sad and happy at the same time, but she couldn't tell because her emotions were too strong and his were blocked. Eventually she got a hold of herself and told him, "Oh Harry, it's not fair you should have had to deal with all the things that you did; but even so, you're still more wonderful than I could have ever hoped for. I love you Harry!" They held each other for awhile longer before she asked him, "Do you want to know the real me?"

Harry thought about that for a moment. He wasn't sure why he'd offered to let her do that, but it seemed to be the right thing to do, and he didn't regret it. But did he really want to know her the same way? He loved her as she was now. Would that change? So it was with a little fear that he nodded his head as they lay on the bed close together.

Ginny didn't have permanent shield walls as he'd had, so she had nothing to do but tell him, "Come to me Harry and be me." Looking into her beautiful brown eyes, he spoke _Legilimens_ and felt himself being pulled into Ginny's world. He saw her memories go by: their wedding night and what it was like from a woman's point of view, their battle and all the training for it, her school work and how she cared for that, her friendships at school including boys she'd dated, her girl talks with Hermione, her crush on him, her family and her relationships to them all, her time with her mum and dad, the good and the bad times of growing up in a wizarding house. Off to the side of her mind was a small door that when opened revealed her year with Tom Riddle and all his evil and surprisingly a few good parts of him too. Finally at the center of her mind was a duality that was hard to understand. There was herself, free and fiercely independent, but there was also herself tied to an image of Harry, a girl who didn't want to be independent, but loved him with all her heart and would do anything for him.

When Harry ended the spell, he was so blown away it was hard to form coherent thoughts. He knew Ginny was a complex person, but this was a truly amazing experience. He now pulled her tightly against him and held her so close she had trouble breathing, but she understood and didn't try to push back. After a minute or so, he finally loosened his grip and pushed her back so he could again look her in the eyes. "I love you so much Ginny Potter, I love you just the way you are."

She couldn't help herself, she had to kiss him. One thing led to another and they were soon caught up in the act of love. A time that soon exceeded their wedding night as they each knew the other completely, including what the other really wanted.

When they arrived back at the docks, they bid Clive and Maddie goodbye. Clive promised all business reports would be mailed to Harry now, though it was really to a post office box that Gringotts owned and then forwarded appropriately.

Going back to the international Apparation point, Ginny grabbed onto Harry tightly and they started their Apparation hops until they arrived at the backdoor of The Burrow. Inside they found all of Ginny's family, except for Percy, as well as Remus and Tonks welcoming them back. Everyone was happy to see the couple again.

As Molly was settling them into the twins' room for their brief stay, she told them that Headmistress McGonagall had said she'd stop by that evening after dinner for a few minutes to talk to Harry and Hermione. That wasn't too unexpected, yet Harry would have preferred that to have waited until tomorrow.

All through the afternoon, they caught up on what had been happening in the world, as well as what their friends and family had been doing. Harry thought it nice that not too much had happened and the world seemed to be mostly at peace now that Voldemort was gone. Tonks said her job was mostly back to normal, though they had caught a few Death Eater recruits who'd started just before Voldemort was vanquished.

After dinner, McGonagall did stop by. She took Hermione and Harry into the living room where the three of them had a private talk about being Head Girl and Head Boy. After they were done, she sent Hermione out to send Ginny in so the three of them to have a short talk.

The Headmistress started the conversation. "Mr. and Mrs. Potter, again, congratulations on your marriage."

"Thank you ma'am," Ginny told her and beamed a large smile, which Harry mimicked.

"While it has happened before, having a married couple who are both still students is somewhat unusual. I'm sure you're aware of the need to behave as if you were not married while outside of your private quarters, but I thought I would remind you nevertheless to avoid problems." She looked quite stern while saying that.

"Of course, Headmistress," Harry replied. Ginny nodded her understanding.

The older woman pulled two envelopes out of her robe and handed them to her students. "That will be even more true because of your positions."

Harry understood her to be mean because he was Head Boy, but Ginny didn't understand until she opened her envelope and found a prefect badge. She looked up in surprise.

"I know you didn't want be prefect in your OWL year Mrs. Potter," McGonagall explained, "but as I know you will be taking at least a few of your NEWTs at Christmas break as well as have an overall lighter load, and we did need to find someone to replace Miss Granger, Professor Cobb and I felt this should not be a problem for you this year."

"Err, yes ma'am, thank you ma'am." Ginny wasn't sure what to say. To be honest, she hadn't even considered this possibility. Then she felt an arm go around her shoulder and give her a squeeze. She looked at Harry and saw him smile proudly at her.

"Your book lists are in the envelopes as well." Here the Headmistress paused and Harry wondered what was going to come next. "There is one other thing which I should warn you about." Both of the students looked guardedly at her. "Since you are still in school, and the defeat of Voldemort is still fresh on everyone's mind, you should expect me to say a few words of congratulations about that at the welcoming feast. I would also request that you wear your Order of Merlin medals so the others can see them, they will not get many opportunities otherwise considering how infrequently that award is bestowed."

Harry looked at Ginny and thought his objections at her which she easily read. She also thought back at him that this was important for the other students and that he should just grow up as it was only for one night, though she did give him a cheeky smile with the last part. This was one of those times Harry wasn't sure if teaching her Legilimency had been such a good idea.

"Very well, Professor," Harry said resignedly.

The older woman smiled at his maturity as she knew he didn't like the limelight for these sorts of things. She also wondered about the couple as it appeared as if they'd just had an entire conversation silently in a few seconds. A conversation with Dumbledore about them was in store, she thought. "Oh, I just remembered, Professor Dumbledore would like to show you something, Harry, now that you're of age. Would you be free around two in the afternoon tomorrow?"

He looked at his wife who told him, "Other than going to Diagon Alley, I don't know that we have anything else to do tomorrow."

"Actually, there was one other short errand I had planned to do." He now looked back to his Transfiguration teacher. "Perhaps three o'clock would be better?"

"I'm sure that will be fine with him. He'll meet you here at that time. Unless you have any other questions, I shall bid you a good evening." They watched her use the Floo to return to the castle.

Ginny's mother saw the prefect badge in her daughter's hand and quickly came over to give her a hug. "Ginny! You did it, you made prefect. I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks Mum," Ginny smiled. The rest of the family came over and congratulated her too.

Everyone talked about the upcoming school year for awhile, but before it got too late, Harry and Ginny begged their leave and bid everyone a good night, claiming tiredness from all their traveling earlier in the day. Ron looked at them suspiciously, but didn't say anything other than good night. His suspicions were correct because when they got to their room, Ginny didn't let Harry go right to sleep; not that he complained at all.

* * *

.


	25. A New Life

Version: 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

**Chapter 25: A New Life**

After a nice breakfast where Molly fussed over her married children, Harry told his new mum they had some errands to run and they'd be back before three, and not to worry about them for lunch. He took Ginny out onto the back porch and had her take her robe off, which he knew would reveal the Muggle style clothes she seemed to like, and he honestly liked seeing her in. Taking off his own robe, he shrunk them both down to small cloths and they stuck them in their pockets. She questioned him with her expression.

"Ginny, my other errand is a family one. This is going to be a bit hard, but I feel I must make one last try with my Aunt Petunia." She gave a small start as she wasn't expecting that. "Since you know everything that happened to me, in addition to controlling your temper because I know you'd like to hex them too, I need to ask you to help me control myself so I don't do something like turn Dudley into the pig he is. Can you help me do that?" Looking into his lovely green eyes, she slowly nodded.

Holding his arm out, she tightly gripped it and they Apparated to the front porch of number four Privet Drive. It was much like Harry remembered it. He knocked on the front door and waited.

When the door opened, there stood his aunt who looked at him in shock for a few seconds before she seemed to wilt. Harry quickly reached out and grabbed her around the waist with one arm, and pulled his other hand from Ginny's in time to fully catch her before she hit the floor. Walking into the living room, he gently sat her on the couch.

As he was trying to decide what to do now, he heard his uncle come in from the kitchen.

"Who was at the door, Petunia?"

Harry's uncle began yelling when he saw his wife unconscious, with Harry and a strange girl standing in front of the couch. "What have you done to her, you freak?! I thought you were dead!"

Harry took a half step sideways to shield Ginny, but Vernon stopped advancing when his yells awoke his wife. She looked up at her nephew. "Lily? James?" she looked very shaken.

Everyone stopped when she spoke. It took Harry a few seconds to clue in on what she was talking about, but he finally understood. Turning to Ginny he whispered, "I'll explain when we get home." Dudley came down the stairs and entered the room as well, going wide-eyed at seeing his cousin and the pretty girl next to him. Harry barely gave him a glance.

"I, uh, wanted to come by and say hello," Harry told them, "and see if we could be at least somewhat like relatives now that I no longer have to stay here."

"I thought you were dead when you didn't show up at the train station." Vernon looked like he'd been really put out at having to go to King's Cross Station and then not finding Harry waiting for him.

"Yeah, well, sorry about me not being there," Harry explained. "But there was a battle on the train when we were coming home and Ginny, my wife, was injured, so I had to take her to the hospital and we never made it to the train station."

"You're married? I bet she's another freak just like you, isn't she?" Vernon roared.

"_Silencio!_" Harry cast wandlessly. His uncle continued to move his mouth but nothing came out. "I've taken your insults over the years, but I will not have you insulting my wife." Dudley started to come at him as if he could protect his family, but Harry merely held out his hand and Banished him to a chair and thought _Incarcerous_ at him. Ropes shot out of his fingers and bound his cousin to the chair. Harry also gently Banished his uncle to the couch beside his aunt.

As Harry pulled Ginny down to a settee, his aunt finally spoke again. "Y-You didn't have your little stick."

"No, Aunt Petunia. For those few wizards and witches who are powerful enough, we don't really need them. So Uncle Vernon, I hope you will keep that in mind while we're here." Harry was having to work hard to rein his temper in. Ginny's hand was rubbing his back which helped in calming him down.

"Now, I had hoped that since I was no longer forced to live here, we could at least be distantly polite and be something like normal relatives. Is that possible at all?" Harry asked again.

"Why didn't you come back at the end of June, Harry?" his aunt asked. His uncle didn't look like he liked that question but he couldn't say anything either.

"During the battle on the train that I mentioned, Ginny and I defeated the evil wizard that killed my parents and forced me to live here. Since I knew your family didn't want me here, and I only needed to live somewhere for about six weeks, I didn't bother to come back. I lived with Ginny's brother until we got married three weeks ago. My hope had been that with a break, we might be able to at least be civil to one another."

"So you just got married then?" Aunt Petunia still seemed to be trying to work it all out.

"Yes, we did," Ginny spoke up for the first time. "I know your family doesn't like Harry, but you really should try to know him as he is. He's a wonderful person and he's done many wonderful things in our world."

"I don't know what to say to that." Petunia looked at her husband, who appeared to be shouting his disagreements along with shaking his very red face. Dudley had been quite silent for some reason; his mum suspected he was finally aware of the full powers of his cousin and was simply scared. She'd seen what Lily could do years ago. "Perhaps it would be for the best if you went your own way and simply left us alone, Harry."

"Are you sure, Aunt Petunia? You know, I could keep in contact with just you and not these other two," Harry suggested.

She looked thoughtful at that. Vernon still seemed outraged and started to get up but she put her hand on him before Harry needed to do anything. To Harry's surprise, his uncle stopped and sat back down. "Thank you, Harry, but I think it would be in everyone's best interest just to let you and your new wife enjoy life on your own."

"As you wish, Aunt Petunia." Harry rose and gave Ginny a hand up.

"And Harry? Congratulations on getting married. You look happy together." Harry had hoped his aunt would also tell him she was sorry for what had happened in his childhood, but she didn't say anything else.

"Very well then. Good bye, Aunt Petunia." Harry purposefully ignored his uncle and his cousin.

"Hey, what about me? I want out of here." His cousin finally spoke up.

Harry just smiled. "It will wear off by dinnertime or so. I hope you didn't drink too much recently and have to go to the bathroom." Dudley's eyes seemed to go wild at the suggestion. "Have a peaceful morning and afternoon, Aunt Petunia. Shall we go shopping, dear?" Ginny grabbed his arm and they Apparated to Diagon Alley, leaving a whimpering Dudley and furious and still silent Vernon behind.

At the Leaky Cauldron, they pulled their robes out and Harry enlarged them. They felt they'd be less conspicuous dressed like everyone else. Harry also put a glamour on each of them such that they had medium blonde hair and eyebrows. He thought it looked amusing with her freckles.

Their first stop was Gringotts; Harry needed to replenish his gold sack, as well as get one for Ginny. When he presented his key to a goblin at the windows, the goblin held it for a second before recognition came to his face. "Ah, you're in disguise, Mr. Potter. If you would follow me, Griphook has a new key for you sir." That was a surprise to him, so they followed the goblin to a door marked "Griphook, Sr. Manager".

Griphook greeted him inside. "Mr. and Mrs. Potter, how nice to see you." Harry didn't think the goblins were ever friendly with anyone, so the greeting was a bit of a surprise. "Your disguise is a good thing. You would probably have difficulty traveling here in Diagon Alley without it. Have a seat." The first goblin handed Harry's vault key to his manager and then left. "I'm glad you came, we need to give you a new vault key."

"Why is that?"

"Since you are now of age, you're family's full vault is now available to you, not just your small vault which only held a portion of it for you to use while you were still underage."

"I have a family vault too?" Harry kept getting surprised during this visit. Ginny sat in silence trying to comprehend it all. She knew the Potters had been a well-to-do family, but this sounded like something more.

"Yes," the goblin manager told him. "Plus when the Black family fortune that you inherited was added in, we had to move it all to a new and bigger vault. You should go visit it while you are here, there are some items in it besides the roughly five million Galleons." He handed over a new key, which Harry slowly took with a slightly shaking hand.

"I had no idea." Harry turned to Ginny, who was in awe.

"Mr. Potter, in addition to putting your new wife's name on the account, I would suggest you draw up a will. A simple one now would be good while you think about how you really want it. Here is a list of your assets which we manage for you." Harry took the small book and finally got an understanding of why the goblin had greeted him so warmly. He now suspected he was one of the richest teenagers in the Wizarding world.

"Uh, what do you think, Ginny? Give the island to Ron and split the rest among your family?" Harry didn't know what to do and Ginny just looked blankly at him, never even imagining being in a situation like this.

"Most of the assets can be sold to do that, Mr. Potter, but there is also your family house in Godric's Hollow which might require special handling," the goblin informed him.

"Oh right, I knew that was there, but I'd forgotten as I've never been there. How about giving that to Ron too, along with the island? Then all the assets and gold to be split among the survivors of Ron, Fred, George, Charlie, Bill, Arthur, and Molly Weasley. Oh, and Hermione Granger, Remus Lupin, and Nymphadora Tonks. That's assuming we don't have any children, in which case everything would go to them, with a trust fund if needed." Harry was having to make this up as he went along. Ginny shrugged at him.

"Fine, Mr. Potter," Griphook said as he made notes. "That will do for a first will, though I do need an executor."

Harry looked back at Ginny who suggested, "You got along well with Bill this summer, right?" Harry agreed with that.

"Very good, Mr. Potter. I think Bill is a fine choice. I've enjoyed working with him while he's been here. I'll have Fanhorn take you to your vault." Griphook touched a stone on his desk. "If you will see me when you return, you can sign the will. When you want to make changes, feel free to come see or owl me." Fanhorn arrived and asked the couple to follow him.

Ginny had never been down to the vaults. She enjoyed the car ride as much as Harry did. Nearly ten minutes later, the car stopped deep underground where the vault doors were much further apart then they were up near the surface.

Harry handed his key over and Fanhorn stuck it in the door and then worked his goblin magic, which caused the many locks on the door to disengage and for it to slowly swing open. Both of the teenagers were agog at the sight of the gold in front of them. Holding his wife's hand, Harry very slowly walked in with her. Near the front were nearly a dozen chests.

Thinking that is what Griphook meant when he mentioned something more than gold, he walked over to the chests and started opening them. Several of them held nothing but jewels, mostly loose gems. A couple held books of various kinds; those he shrunk down. One appeared to hold only journals and letters; that got shrunk too. The rest held what looked like mementos, including one that was only baby things; he also shrunk those. Finishing his search, he picked up all the little trunks and put them in a large spare pocket inside his robe. He wanted to go through these later.

As Harry turned to leave, Fanhorn spoke up, having watched everything else in silence. "Mr. Potter, did you want to fill your gold sack while you were here?"

"Oh yes, thank you, Fanhorn. I had totally forgotten after having seen the rest of this. Oh, do you have an extra gold sack?"

"Certainly, sir." He pulled one out and handed it to Harry, who handed it to Ginny.

"Fill it up Ginny, there's plenty," he told her. She stood there still not sure about it all; all of this was so new to her having been raised in a financially strapped family. Harry finished filling his sack then turned to find her still looking at the mountain of gold. He gently took the sack from her and filled it before handing it back. "You know, we could never spend all of this with normal living, so don't worry about this little sack. You'll never have to worry about second-hand robes again." She just stared at him and nodded before following him out.

He felt for her feelings as they rode back up to the surface. Awe and a sense of loss kept coming from her. "Ginny, don't worry about it," he quietly told her. "What matters to me is you, and that you picked me before you knew about any of this." He hugged her tightly and felt her apprehension change into love for him.

Back upstairs, they saw Griphook one more time to sign their provisional will before they left.

They quickly got their school supplies and the few books they needed for school. Harry also picked up some extra books on Charms; he was starting to really like that class. He mused that maybe he'd picked some of that up from his mum. He also found a few more books on spell creation and bought those too.

On their way back to the Leaky Cauldron for a late lunch, they decided to stop by her brothers' shop. The twins' business was booming, with many of the kids grabbing joke products to take to school with them. Hoping to avoid a scene, the couple regrettably passed on by and went on to lunch.

After a leisurely lunch, they realized it was almost three o'clock, so Harry bought four cases of Butterbeer from Tom the restaurant owner. He shrunk those down and also put them in his robes, which were starting to become heavy with all the little things he had in them. Ginny questioned the purchase, but he told her they might be nice to have later. She shrugged and grabbed onto his arm so they could Apparate home.

Up in their room, Harry emptied his robe out and put most of the extra things into his trunk. Spying the photo album Hagrid had given him, he pulled it out. "Here Ginny, you need to see this." He steered her over so they were in front of the mirror on the wall, then he opened the album to the page that showed his parents at their wedding.

She gasped. "That's so uncanny! Her hair is slightly darker than mine and she's almost as tall as your dad was, while I'm several inches shorter than you. Our faces are completely different, but the other similarities are amazing."

Harry smiled, "Yeah, I think so too, and I think it's actually pretty cool. I can see why Aunt Petunia first thought my parents had come back." He put the book down and wrapped her in his arms. "Everyone tells me they were really happy too, but I don't think they were nearly as happy as I am with you." He kissed her slowly and deeply while feeling her love for him.

"Umm, careful, Potter, you may start something you can't finish now," she told him.

"Hmm, since that name applies to you as well, are you talking to yourself now?" he joked with her.

She laughed, "Maybe ..." but she got interrupted.

"Ginny! Harry! You've got a visitor!" they heard shouted from downstairs.

Harry gave her a quick kiss before steering her towards the stairs, walking down with their arms around each other.

As expected, they found the former Headmaster waiting for them. "Good afternoon, Harry, Ginny," the old man greeted them.

"Hello, Professor," they told him in unison, which made them smile at one another when they accidentally did that.

"I have something to show the two of you, if you would grab onto this Portkey." He held out an old, long-handled wooden spoon. Looking over to the woman of the house he said, "Molly, they should be back by dinnertime."

"Will you be joining us, Albus?" Molly asked.

"No, I'm afraid I already have other plans. Thank you for inviting me though." He turned back to his two students. "Ready?" They grabbed the long handled spoon and the old man touched it with his wand.

Coming out of the dizzying journey, Harry was pleased that he landed normally; Ginny stumbled slightly, but Harry held her hand and prevented her from falling. Dumbledore landed gracefully as always. They were at the end of a street that was lined with large, ancient trees. There were a couple of good-sized houses down the street; the area in front of them looked like an empty field.

Dumbledore reached into his robes and pulled out a small piece of parchment and handed it to Harry. "If the two of you would read and memorize what's on here, we can get started." They both read "The location of Potter Manor is at number one Oak Street, Godric's Hollow." When they both nodded and Harry handed the parchment back, Dumbledore burned it with his wand. "Now think carefully about what you read."

Suddenly the field turned into a large house with many large oak trees and vines covering much of the walls. It looked rundown, though it was probably very elegant at one time. Harry finally realized what he was looking at. "This was my parents' house ..."

It wasn't said like a question, but Dumbledore knew it would be the first of many this afternoon. "Yes, Harry. This is your family house, although not where they went into hiding sixteen years ago. That was on the other side of town and was totally destroyed. I put this house under the Fidelius myself. It is time for you to see and have this. It is the last of the Potter items I have held for you over the years. Come, let's take a tour." He started walking onto the grounds.

Ginny could feel a restlessness coming from him. It wasn't quite fear, but he wasn't totally sure he wanted to be here either she could tell. Having shared all his memories, she knew what he was afraid to find. "Harry," she squeezed his hand to get him to look at her. "I'll be right here with you. There's nothing bad in there; it's just an empty old house." She felt his feelings relax a bit.

"Thanks, Gin," he whispered while he squeezed her hand, then they slowly started walking after Dumbledore.

_He must be under more stress than I realized_, she thought. He normally only called her "Gin" when under extreme stress or during intimate moments. She decided she better keep close tabs on his emotions while they were here.

When they approached the house itself, they found its outer walls were actually made out of rock. Ginny thought it would probably be a nice looking house once all the vines and other overgrowth were removed. There were no broken windows or holes in the walls, so it appeared to be intact.

Approaching the front of the house, Harry saw a very ornate door which had two lions facing each other carved on it, with a big brass knocker between them. It would have been quite majestic, except for the peeling paint. With a touch of his wand, Dumbledore unlocked the door and led the couple in.

Inside, it appeared to be a very nice house, though everything was covered in a very thick layer of dust. Harry had expected to find a few curse marks on the walls, until he remember the fight had not been here. That realization calmed him down even more.

After passing through a short hallway, they came to a room that seemed almost familiar to Harry. It appeared to have been light blue at one time, but the paint had long since faded. "This was your room, Harry", the Professor told him. Harry had no distinct memories of this room at all.

They toured the rest of the house, finding lots of dust but no damage as they peeked into the master bedroom, another bedroom, kitchen, dining room, library, and parlor on the first floor. The six bedrooms on the second floor and their bathrooms, the second floor sitting area, as well as the large attic on the third floor appeared to be the same way - very dusty and somewhat dirty.

In the back garden, they found a small guest house as well as a garage-like building, which surprised Harry as most Wizarding families didn't own cars. He wondered what his parents had used it for, but it was empty so he couldn't tell. There was also a barely visible gazebo and what was probably a fountain, though it was hard to tell underneath all the overgrowth.

Finally breaking the silence of the last half hour of their wanderings, Harry turned to his wife. "So, what do you think? If we could get it cleaned up, would you want to live here? Or would you prefer somewhere else?"

She turned to look him in the eyes as she continued to try to understand what he was feeling. A bit blindly, she grasped for and found his other hand so she now held both of them. Finally she felt his feelings start to settle and she felt a resignation from him, almost peace, or maybe more like acceptance. "I think it would be a very nice place, Harry. I'm sure Dobby and Winky could help us get it cleaned up; I know you could hire them." Dumbledore was a ways off, looking at the grounds to give them some privacy, but she still spoke very softly. "The question is Harry, can you live here?"

Harry thought about that, as that had been the question that kept coming into his mind during the entire tour. "Yes, I think so. While I don't have any real memories of the place, there is a familiar feeling inside me."

Looking up he saw his mentor slowly walking towards them. "Professor," he called out, "we'll take it."

That caused the old man to chuckle. "That's good, Harry. I'm not sure what we would have done with it otherwise." That got a smile from the two youngsters. "If you'll follow me, I'll transfer it over." They walked back out onto the street in front of the house. Dumbledore looked very carefully down the street, but all was quiet. Pulling his wand out, he did a spell Harry hadn't seen before.

"Was that to end the _Fidelius_?" he asked.

"Yes Harry." Dumbledore put his wand back up. "Now if you'll put it back under _Fidelius_, then it will be safe again and under your control."

"Oh," Harry exclaimed. "That's why you taught me this spell at the end of last year." The old man smiled and nodded. Pulling his wand out, Harry was about to do the charm when a thought occurred to him. Moving to the other side of Ginny, he grabbed her hand. With the boundaries of the property in his mind, he cast the spell, feeling a little something extra in his mind as he finished it, which he assumed to be weight of the secret he now kept. "Is there anything else I need to do, Professor?"

Smiling, Dumbledore told him, "You just need to share the secret with your wife so she can find it too."

"But I can already see it," she announced.

A look of extreme surprise registered on the old man's face. "But that shouldn't happen unless ..." He paused thinking it through rapidly. "You two have a life bond don't you? Yes, that would explain a lot. Without this information, I'm not sure I would have guessed."

Harry looked at Ginny in something close to shock, who was looking at him the same way. Suddenly he knew what had to be done. _Play along and go with me on this Gin_ he thought to her, and she nodded. "Professor, about the secret of our life bond ..."

"I know, Harry, I can't share that with anyone. I will keep your secret," Dumbledore told him.

"Yes, Professor, and I'm sorry it has to be this way ... _Obliviate!_" Harry was now glad he'd learned that from Flitwick at the end of last year as he removed the memory of the last half minute from Dumbledore. The Professor looked shocked and blank for a second, then normalcy returned to his face. When that happened, Harry again asked, "Is there anything else I need to do Professor, besides sharing the secret with Ginny?"

Ginny had a totally shocked look on her face. She couldn't believe Harry had just done that, though she did appreciate it.

Misunderstanding the look on her face, Dumbledore told her, "Yes, it's disconcerting for something like a house to disappear in front of you, isn't it Ginny?" She mutely nodded. "Here let me help you." He pulled out some parchment and a quill for Harry, who wrote the secret on it and showed it to Ginny as if she really needed it, who played along and looked at it.

After a few seconds, she exclaimed, "Oh, there it is again." Everyone smiled and Dumbledore was none the wiser.

When Harry made to show the paper to Dumbledore, he stopped Harry. "No, I don't really need to see it. At least for a while, you should only share the location with those who really need to know. While I'd never betray you, there are still some Death Eaters on the loose and you really should have a good hiding place away from everyone, even well-wishers for your victory last June." Harry nodded. "Unless there is anything else, I shall be on my way, as you can Apparate home."

"No, we'll be fine; and thank you for everything Professor. I - we," he smiled and looked at Ginny, "really appreciate you showing us this. I was wondering where it was and where we were going to live when we got out of school."

"I understand, and it was not a problem. Good night, Harry, Ginny. Until we meet again tomorrow evening?" The old wizard smiled and Disapparated away.

Ginny instantly turned to her husband. "I can't believe you _Obliviated_ Dumbledore. That was incredible."

He smiled, "Thank you Gin. Part of me can't believe I did it either, but I didn't know what else to do."

"Yeah, I don't know what else we could have done either." She paused then said, "Now what, go home?"

"No, I think we have one more thing to do here. How about we hire some house-elves?" He grinned mischievously. She grinned back at him. "Dobby and Winky! I need your help."

About five seconds later, there were two pops and there stood the desired house-elves. "Harry Potter Sir! This is an unexpected surprise. Winky was very surprised you called her too."

"Winky," Harry asked, "did you hear me when I called?"

"No Sir, but Dobby did and suggested I come since you called me too." Harry didn't think she would have heard him, so he wasn't surprised.

"Well, I called you here because I have need of house-elves and I'd like to hire both of you. Would you like to work for us?"

Dobby's reaction was obvious. "Oh yes, Harry Potter Sir. Dobby would be most glad to work for you. It would be better than working at Hogwarts."

"Oh yes, good point. I'll need to clear this with Headmistress McGonagall before it becomes permanent, so for now it would be for whenever you have any spare time," Harry told them. "How about you, Winky, do you want to work for us?"

"Would you be my master or my employer, Mr. Potter Sir?" she asked.

"Well, I don't really believe in slavery, Winky, and I know you're a free House-elf now, so I would be your employer." He saw her look sad. "Why do you ask, Winky?"

"Oh, I was wanting to be a proper house-elf again, Mr. Potter. I don't like being a free elf." Winky seemed be wringing her hands in a way that Harry didn't think should be physically possible.

"Winky," Ginny gently said, "what if we hired you for a while and then if you liked it, we made you part of our family. Would that be all right?"

"You would do that for me, Mrs. Potter?" Winky looked overjoyed.

"If that's what you want. Dobby, I guess the same offer could be made to you, or you could stay free and be paid if you want, whichever you prefer," Ginny informed him.

"I don't care, but I do want to stay with Winky." Dobby suddenly seemed shy. Ginny found that cute.

"OK," Harry said, "how about five Galleons per month for each of you until next July when we finish school? Then we'll talk again and see how everyone is. If either or both of you want to become part of the family, we'll make that happen; otherwise we'll still hire you. How's that?" Both elves were practically jumping up and down with joy.

"Very good," Harry told them. "The first thing you need to do is to read this." He showed them the secret that he still had. Each one of them read it then Harry burned it.

"Wow!" Dobby exclaimed happily. "We will have lots of work to do." Winky seemed to be very happy too.

"Come on you two, let us show you the house." The humans led the elves in and gave them a brief tour.

When they returned to the living room, Harry turned to the elves. "Here's what I'm thinking. Don't wear yourselves out, but when you have free time, you can come here and start making the house ready to live in. I will speak to Professor McGonagall about releasing you from some of your duties at Hogwarts to help give you more time here. Do you think you can have the master bedroom and bathroom, kitchen, and living room livable by Christmas?"

The elves didn't even bother to confer. "Oh yes, Sir!" Dobby told him. "That will be easy to do."

"Fine," Harry acknowledged and smiled at Ginny; this was going well. "One last thing, I didn't notice any house-elf quarters in there, did you?"

"Yes Sir, there is some off the kitchen," Winky told him.

"Oh, OK." Harry was surprised. "Well, those are obviously yours. If you need more room, just let me know and we'll work something out."

"Harry Potter Sir, we don't need any more. That would be much too grand for us," Dobby protested. Winky agreed.

Shrugging, Harry told them, "If you're happy, then I suppose that will do."

Dobby told him, "Thank you, Sir. We do a very good job for you."

With that done, the Potters bid the elves goodbye and Apparated back to The Burrow. Over dinner, they explained about where they'd gone and the house that they now owned. That created much excitement; Molly especially wanted to go see it. Both Harry and Ginny were proud of that, but told everyone they'd have to wait until the house was livable.

* * *

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	26. Accolades

Version: 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

**Chapter 26: Accolades**

The next morning was the first of September, and it was just like last year. Ron was scrambling to get packed while the other three teens had done that the night before and therefore had a leisurely breakfast.

Since there were no known threats this year, they stuffed shrunken trunks into their pockets and Apparated to the nearest approved Apparation point in King's Cross. Tonks and Molly still went with them anyway. A short walk and they were at the barrier between Platforms Nine and Ten. One at a time, they walked through the portal and were back into a wizard controlled area, namely Platform 9 ¾.

Though neither had talked about it with the other, both Harry and Ginny stood by the portal longer than necessary, then they slowly walked around the edge of the platform to the train. Behind them Tonks smiled, but she didn't dare say anything lest she get hexed, and deep down she felt the same way they did: cautious. Lots of people they knew said hello and commented on their badges, which were already pinned on their robes.

Even Ron's "QC" badge got him a fair share of comments. He and Harry had talked about it for awhile before the wedding and Harry had finally decided Ron should be Quidditch Captain. It meant more to him. While Harry probably had more time for it, even with being Head Boy, he still felt Ron deserved this for all he'd had to put up with in being Harry's friend. Plus when it came down to it, Harry was certain Ron knew more about Quidditch than he did, and would probably do a better job.

All four of the teens said goodbye to Mrs. Weasley and Tonks, then they boarded the train and slowly made their way to the front. When they got to the prefect cabin, Ron couldn't help but comment on it. "Hey, this looks pretty good. I wonder if it's the same car and was repaired? Or if it's a new car?"

"I think it's the same one," Hermione said. "If you look closely, parts of it seem a lot newer. They did a good job on it, didn't they?"

"You know it's really strange to be up here on my last train ride to Hogwarts." Harry seemed very thoughtful. "I've always been back in a normal compartment."

"Yeah, it is weird," Ginny agreed, "but at least I get to be with you." She sat down so close to him she was almost on his lap. Harry smiled and put his arm around her and relaxed while the other prefects started coming in.

Most of them greeted the foursome, including whoever was already there, in a friendly manner. The exceptions were the Slytherins. Harry noticed the fifth year prefects weren't too bad, the sixth year pair was pretty cautious; the seventh year prefects were the ones that concerned him the most and he planned to keep an eye on them.

When the train started moving, Hermione brought the meeting to order. Most of the prefects paid attention and again, it was the older Slytherins that tended not to.

One person that especially caught Harry's eye though was Blaise Zabini, who had replaced Draco Malfoy as the boy prefect for the seventh year. Blaise was actually fairly reserved, and when Harry did a quick read on his present thoughts with _Legilimency_, he found that Blaise didn't really trust Harry or Hermione, but he didn't seem to have anything against them either. That was not true about Pansy Parkinson, who was obviously still pro-Voldemort. A part of him felt guilty for looking at their current thoughts, but the cautious side of him rationalized it away in the need to feel secure. He silently vowed not to do it again unless lives were at stake.

Harry let Hermione run the meeting and discuss everything McGonagall had told them. He had the occasional comment, which he tried to make witty; those earned him dirty looks from Hermione, to which he just grinned back. At the end, almost two hours after she'd started, Hermione asked if Harry had anything else to add.

"Yes, actually I do have one comment," he said. She nodded to him for him to go on. "I think I'd like to summarize my feelings on all of that by saying that your job as prefects is to take care of your house and your fellow students. Hermione and I are here for stuff you can't handle, like when it deals with another house or you run into a situation that is so unusual you need advice. That being said, I hope that Hermione and I will be bored this year because all of you do your jobs so well."

Hermione gave him a grudgingly respectful look for that. "OK, unless anyone has any questions, we're done here. We can stay and talk or go find friends, other than the patrols you need to do as assigned."

"Oh yeah, I do have one more thing," Harry looked at her and grinned. She looked at him like he was being disorganized. "One thing I'd really like to see this year is more things done outside of houses. House unity is great, but I think there are some great friendships to be made with people outside of your house too."

"What did you have in mind, Harry?" asked one of the Ravenclaw prefects.

"There are several things that quickly come to mind. Everyone remember the Yule Ball we had three years ago at the Tri-Wizard Tournament?" Most heads started bobbing so Harry went on. "While that is more complicated than I'm envisioning, what if we had a party for all the houses? Maybe we could get the Headmistress to bring in a band. I'm sure there are other kinds of ways for us to get together, so think about it and get back to me over the next few weeks."

"My town has a picnic by the lake every year, maybe we could do something like that," the fifth year Hufflepuff girl suggested.

"Yes, that kind of thing. Put your thinking caps on and send your suggestions to Hermione or myself. And to lead by example, let me try a spell I've been working on for the last few weeks. I've been dying to try this one out." Harry pulled out his wand.

"I thought you were on your honeymoon for the last few weeks," Justin Finch-Fletchley kidded him.

"I have been, but that doesn't mean I totally ignored useful magic either," Harry shot back. With that, he started waving his wand and three plates of sandwiches appeared, each a different kind. He got a lot of calls of "Cool!" and "Awesome!" from that. Even Hermione looked impressed. Ginny was the only one who hadn't said anything, but that was because she'd seen him do it just before they left the island.

As people started grabbing the food, Blaise finally spoke up. "Not bad, Potter, but you forgot the drinks." He had sort of a smirk on his face as he waited to see how the Head Boy was going to solve this one.

Harry just smiled and reached into his robes and pulled out a very small box. He handed it to Blaise and told him, "Since you noticed the problem, you can have the honors of fixing it."

Blaise took the box and put it on the floor. It was obvious he should enlarge it, so he did. When a full case of Butterbeer appeared, he was impressed, as were all the other prefects. Hermione seemed to the only one who wasn't automatically happy, but she didn't stop anyone. Grabbing a bottle, Blaise looked at the Head Boy. "Not bad, Potter, not bad at all." Harry thought that most of the Slytherin's doubt was gone, at least based on his expression. So while he wasn't a friend, at least he was neutral and might become a friend.

The small impromptu party was a hit, and even Hermione had to admit later that the seeds of inter-house unity seemed to have been planted.

Anthony Goldstein got Harry's attention, "Hey, congratulations again on getting married, the wedding was a blast." Harry smiled at him and looked at Ginny who was smiling too. "So where did you two go for your honeymoon?"

"We found a private little island just for the two of us," Harry told him, leaving out where it was and who owned it. Everyone whooped and hollered at that.

"So where are you going to stay? I've never heard of any married student quarters," Anthony went on.

"That's simple," Ginny answered, "Head Boy has a private room." There were lots of smiles at that and a few "can we borrow your room" jokes.

"Hey, how did you get to be prefect?" Pansy finally said something.

"Someone had to replace Hermione," Ginny calmly told her.

Pansy didn't buy that. "But you're only a sixth year."

"Should have been, but I skipped a year due to my good grades and what I learned last year in my independent study classes. This will be my last year at Hogwarts." Ginny had managed to say that fairly matter-of-factly; she was trying not to look like she had a big ego and rub it in their faces. Pansy still looked bothered anyway, not that Ginny was surprised or cared what the Slytherin girl thought. Everyone else seemed to think that was cool and most of them congratulated her.

"Of course the best thing," Harry said, "is that since I'm Head Boy and she's a prefect, we can't get in trouble from Filch if we're out late." That got lots of laughter. Soon thereafter the Potters left the Prefect cabin and went down the train saying hi to their other friends. They arrived at Hogwarts in what seemed like an all too fast trip.

* * *

Harry and Ginny both had a few minutes of work to do when the train arrived at the Hogsmeade station. He'd always taken all the organization for granted, until now when he had to help direct people. They finally finished that task and caught the last carriage for the castle with Hermione and Ron. In the carriage, the Potters dug out their Order of Merlin medals from an inside pocket and put them on. Ron asked why. Ginny told him Professor McGonagall requested it for the feast.

Ron was a little bothered by the recognition that Harry and Ginny received, at least until he thought about what they'd had to go through. Not only had they had to face Voldemort on the train, but there were all the other times, as well as the Chamber of Secrets thing for Ginny. Ron was once again glad that he was Ron and calmed down.

The Welcoming Feast was always fun. It was always a great thing to be back to what Harry thought of as home in many ways. This year was different; it would be their last year there.

It was also different in that it was Professor McGonagall who sat in the big golden chair, while Professor Dumbledore was sitting next to her. That caused a stir among the students who hadn't known. There were two other new faces too.

Professor Flitwick came in leading all the little first-years. Harry had trouble believing he was ever that small. A look at Ron showed his friend was probably having similar thoughts. After a song about unity during peacetime, the Sorting Hat divided the firsties. Gryffindor received nearly one third of them, and Slytherin got only six - two girls and four boys. Harry thought that interesting and the look on Hermione's face indicated she felt the same way. There was sure to be a discussion about this he could tell.

Like Dumbledore, McGonagall arose and welcomed everyone, and told them the announcements could wait a bit and bid them to tuck in. Harry found the food to be as good as he remembered; Ginny also ate heartily. They enjoyed talking with all their friends again around the table.

As they finished their ice cream dessert, the Headmistress stood. "Welcome to Hogwarts. I'm glad all of you could be here. I hope you have a wonderful year of learning with a little bit of fun too." There was a small cheer for the fun part.

Continuing when she could, "As you can see, Professor Dumbledore has stepped down as Headmaster, though he will continue working here doing guest lectures." That caused a bit of a stir. "I would like to thank him for his many years of service, not only as Headmaster, but as a behind the scenes leader in the war against Voldemort. Without him, the war probably would not have ended as soon as it did." She started clapping and everyone in the Great Hall joined her in loud applause. Even the Slytherins respected him, or most of them did.

When the clapping died down, she held out both hands pointing to all her fellow teachers. "As you can see, most of our teachers have returned." Harry was heartened to see Maria DuPointe; that led him to believe he'd do well in Potions this year. "The first Defense teacher to remain for more than one year in recent memory, Professor Cobb, will be the new Head of Gryffindor House this year." The cheering from Harry's table was immense.

"Also to help me out, our new Transfiguration teacher this year is Professor William Gooseman." McGonagall pointed to him on her left. He received polite applause. "Next to him is his wife, Professor Sarah Gooseman; she will take over teaching all the Divination classes." While Harry heard a few disappointed sounds from his table, most of the hall gave her a nice welcome too. "I must announce that Professor Trelawney has retired, and Professor Firenze has made amends with his herd and returned there." That caused a short babble.

"The last introductions are not quite staff related," she announced. Harry realized what was coming and wasn't looking forward to it. He felt Ginny grip his hand and that helped him. "Our Head Girl this year is someone who has not only shown leadership during her years here, but has also has one of the highest grade averages ever seen by Hogwarts. Please stand, Ms. Granger." Hermione stood to the applause and actually blushed a bit. Ron was clapping and whistling as loudly as he could.

"Our Head Boy this year is someone all of you know. Not only has he been the leader of the DA club, one of the finest Seekers Hogwarts has ever seen, and he has excellent grades too; he is also the reason the war with Voldemort is finished - for good. Harry Potter!" The applause was thunderous and Harry felt so embarrassed by the introduction that Ginny had to push him up to a standing position. When the applause finally ended, McGonagall also said, "These are your student leaders for this year. If you feel you need to talk to someone and don't want to see a teacher or one of your prefects, please talk to them; they can help you."

The two student leaders went to sit down, but McGonagall had other plans. "Harry, if you would remain standing, and Ginny if you would please join him." Now Ginny looked a bit embarrassed and Harry had fun with her as he reached down to grab her arm and help her up. "You will please notice that at my request, both of them are wearing their medals, an Order of Merlin First Class medals with Special Distinction. As everyone should know, they were awarded those for their service to the world this summer for defeating Voldemort. This award is the highest we have to offer and it is not given lightly or very often. Please join me in thanking them for their many hours of effort in training for that task, as well as the horrifying time of the battle." Again there was thunderous applause, which the two teens somehow managed to stand through. "Before seeing their medals, the only other one I've ever seen is Professor Dumbledore's for defeating Grindelwald in 1945. Without crowding them later, look upon these medals with the respect they and their owners deserve, you may never see another in your lifetime." There was much whispering at that.

As the teens finally sat, the Headmistress looked at them with a rare smile on her face. "Also, in case you did not hear the news, Ginny is now Ginny Potter." Applause and whistles sounded out. "So to everyone looking for a date for the Hogsmeade weekends, those two are permanently unavailable." The Potters blushed tremendously and also kissed briefly, which caused even more applause and catcalls, but they decided they didn't care about it for this.

"I would like to congratulate a few others on their efforts," McGonagall went on. "If you received an Order of Merlin this summer, please stand and be recognized." Ron and Hermione stood as they'd received a Third Class, one for their research and training work; Neville Longbottom had also received a Third Class one for his fight against Draco Malfoy, and for helping to distract Voldemort and helping indirectly in his demise. Though they weren't here, Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt had also received the same awards. These three students were also loudly applauded. "And if you received a Special Citation, also please stand." Everyone in the DA who'd been on the train now stood too and received applause. "Thank you all for your valiant efforts."

"Finally," the Headmistress continued when most of the noise had died down, "please remember that the Forbidden Forrest is named that for a reason. Students have died in there before. If you don't believe me, I'll refer you to the book _Hogwarts: A History_ or to our Care of Magical Creatures teacher, Hagrid. Have a good term everyone. Prefects, please help the first-years get settled in."

Everyone seemed to jump up after that, most rushing over to Harry and Ginny. They were congratulated on their victory so many times, both of their hands and backs were starting to get sore. It took them forty-five minutes, but they finally got out of the Great Hall and to the Head rooms. Hermione was already there as was Ron. They were talking now, but Harry suspected they'd been doing just a little bit more than that by the way both of them were trying to readjust their robes. The Potters looked at each other and grinned.

The common room was pretty nice. It had a small fireplace, a couple of large overstuffed chairs, but no couch. There was also a large work table. The room had five doors: one to the outside, one to each of the two bedrooms, one to a bath area they had to share, and one which was a magical portal to the Gryffindor common room. Normally there would be two portals, one to the house of each, but since they were both from Gryffindor, only one was needed. The bathroom was almost as nice as the big prefect bathroom. Ginny really liked that and Harry could tell where her thoughts were going based on the feeling emanating from her.

While Hermione's bedroom was much like Harry expected and had a single bed in it, his and Ginny's room had a larger queen-sized four poster bed it. It made the room a bit more cramped, but they didn't really care. They bid the other two good night and closed the door on their room. With a locking spell on the door and a silencing spell on the room, they retired for the evening.

— — —

Minerva McGonagall watched the students go over to the Potters and offer their congratulations. Turning to her former superior, she quietly said, "Albus, do you have a few minutes you can give me?"

"Certainly, your place or mine?" his eyes twinkling like normal.

"I think my office, if you don't mind." They walked in friendly discussion about the evening. Once there, she offered him a cup of tea as they sat in the room's sitting area to make the chat a bit more informal. She then proceeded to try to satisfy her curiosity. "Albus, what do I need to know about the Potters as Headmistress?"

"I assume you mean the ones currently in residence? he asked. She nodded. "Alas, that conversation could take several days. What prompted your question and I'll try to hit the highlights."

She took a sip of tea. "A couple of days ago I met with them. While there, I told them I planned to mention their victory and wanted them to wear their medals. I thought that best knowing Harry doesn't seem to like the spotlight on him for that sort of thing." Albus nodded in agreement. "I could tell he wasn't happy about that, then the two of them looked at each other for a few seconds. At the end, she gave him a look as if they'd shared a joke, and then he agreed to my request without an argument, which was somewhat out of character for him. It was as if they were having a silent conversation."

The former Headmaster smiled and nodded slightly. "They probably were."

"What?! How?" she asked.

"You remember the difficulties Harry was having in his fifth year with mental attacks from Voldemort? She nodded. "And I'm sure you'll also remember one of my less successful moments, I had Severus try to teach him Occlumency. Andrew finished that last year and Harry did quite well I understand. Though I can't prove it, I believe that Harry even withstood a full mental attack from Severus and Harry protected himself such that Severus was none the wiser afterward for what he was searching for."

"That's amazing," Minerva commented.

"Yes it is. In the process last year, Andrew also taught Harry Legilimency."

"What?" She sat just a little bit straighter in her chair at hearing that news. "We don't teach that because of the potential for abuse."

"Normally Minerva, you would be correct, but I approved it for Harry because he needed to know when people who were his potential enemies were lying to him. Harry is also someone who has proven himself to be on the good side and shown moral character. I also ensured Andrew was very thorough in explaining the privacy issue to him."

"I see," she said and Dumbledore let her contemplate that for a moment before he continued.

"To make the explanation more interesting, I'll add a story here. If you remember back to just before last Christmas, Draco Malfoy was hit with a silencing spell and no one was able to figure out how that happened."

"Obviously Potter did it."

"Of course he did, but no one saw him do any spells. Well, when I questioned him and his friends, I found that Harry had his shields up tightly, so no information there. I also did a very gentle probe on Ginny and found that she had shields too, and good ones at that." McGonagall raised an eyebrow. "Yes, and the only obvious teacher was Harry. So if he taught her Occlumency, I have no doubt he was able to teach her Legilimency too."

Minerva thought about that for a moment. "Oh, I see what you're telling me now. With those two skills, they could have private conversations. And yes, they did seem to stare into each other's eyes for those few seconds the other evening. Mr. Potter is a man of many talents, it seems."

"Quite," the old wizard agreed. "We've barely scratched the surface. I've since found out he can do soundless magic as well as wandless magic too."

"You're not serious are you?" Dumbledore nodded. "Well, that would explain Draco's silencing." Dumbledore nodded again. "That's some very advanced magic Albus."

"Yes it is. If Harry applies himself, I'd fully expect him to surpass me by the time he's fifty," Dumbledore predicted. "Of course, with Voldemort gone, he probably won't have the motivation to study that hard, so it'll probably take him an extra decade or three, but I do expect him to surpass my abilities one day." Dumbledore looked very serious as he said that.

"Interesting. And Ginny, anything I need to know about her?" she asked.

"She is already a very powerful witch, and as I told her mother, she is well matched with Harry. If you didn't know, the reason for that, beyond the fact that she is quite smart, is primarily from the difficulty she had her first year here."

"You mean in the Chamber of Secrets?" Minerva asked.

"Yes, assuming you didn't go insane, which says something about Ginny's character that she didn't, consider what it would do to you as an eleven year old girl to be possessed by an already evil Tom Riddle for almost a year? All of Tom's corruption, knowledge, and experience, all of which was already exceptional at seventeen I'll point out."

McGonagall looked shocked. "I never thought of it that way."

"No, Molly didn't either which is why she and Ginny had such a hard time until just recently. I can't prove it, but I believe she picked up a good deal of Tom's knowledge, both good and bad. That's why she does so well in school; but the most interesting part to me is that it didn't seem to corrupt her. She is a most remarkable young woman."

"I agree, and I understand she is also the one that helped Harry through his difficult time last Christmas?" McGonagall asked. "You were very brief when you mentioned it then at the Order meeting."

"Yes, she helped him in a way I don't think even the best mind healer in England could have through personal perseverance and the power of love. And together, they are the most powerful wizarding couple the world has seen in quite some time." He shook his head slightly as he thought about that.

"What do you mean by that, Albus?"

"Just that they are. You can ask them if you want, it is their secret to tell, not mine. But consider that in our training sessions last year, at the end of the year, they were consistently beating Andrew, Remus, Tonks, and myself in four on two duels; and the only way we four held back was that we didn't do Dark Magic." McGonagall looked shocked. "I tell you Minerva, I threw everything I could at them that wouldn't put them in the hospital for more than a week and they took it all and sent it back to us. They are amazing fighters. I wished I could have watched their fight against Tom."

The Headmistress thought about all that and wondered how much more there was, and what an amazing story it would all be if written down. "Thank you, Albus."

"Anytime, Minerva." He stood to go. "Oh, I showed them Potter Manor yesterday. I wouldn't be surprised if they ask for some time away to work on it, or if they ask about hiring away a house-elf or two. Harry seems to have a connection to Dobby for some reason. Good evening, Minerva," he told her as he left for his quarters. The Headmistress was lost in thought for quite some time about these two students, and in the end, she was very glad they were on the side of the Light.

* * *

.


	27. Independent Study

Version: 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

Chapter 27: Independent Study

The next morning, the Potters unpacked their trunks before breakfast. Someone had thoughtfully provided two wardrobes that were magically expanded on the inside. There were also two small desks in the room. Between all of that and the door out and a door to a small water closet for a sink and toilet, there was barely room for walkways around the furniture. Still, they were happy to be together, and the double window gave them a spectacular view of the grounds and the lake.

Their common area was empty so they went on down to breakfast by themselves. Hermione and Ron were already there. As they started on breakfast, many owls flew in with packages of things many students had forgotten. It was always funny to see. Professor Cobb also started coming down the table handing out their class schedules.

Ginny had received all Outstandings on all her OWLs, which bothered Hermione a bit, but then Ginny had had Pensieve lessons for some of her classes, which increased retention of the data. She'd pointed that out to the older girl which helped smooth a few ruffled feathers, but Hermione was still a bit put out. Likewise, Harry had received Outstandings on all four of his NEWTs; he was quite proud of that.

So given their scores, they weren't totally surprised to find they had the same class schedule, though Ginny wondered where her Runes, Arithmancy, and History of Magic classes were. She had wanted to take them along with the Potions and Herbology classes. And while she had basically completed all the work for her Defense, Charms, and Transfiguration NEWTs last year, she still saw "Independent Study" classes with Professors Cobb, Flitwick, McGonagall, and Dumbledore. Harry thought that interesting too, but pointed out to her that since their first class this morning was the Independent Study class with Cobb, they'd probably find out what was going on then.

Hermione looked a bit skeptically at their schedules as she would have liked to have some of those Independent Study classes too. She had started making remarks over the last week about doing research of some kind after graduation and wanted to start doing advanced work now. Ron's schedule looked like Hermione's, but without the Arithmancy and Runes classes, which he was happy not to have. Harry joked with her that if she were to drop one or both of those electives, she'd have time for independent study classes. It was her choice. To his amazement, she didn't say anything to his quip, but looked at him in a very thoughtful manner.

Now that everyone knew what they had for the day, there was a mass exodus from the Great Hall back to the dorm rooms to get their proper books. On the way from their room to the Defense classroom, Harry and Ginny came across a Slytherin firstie who looked totally lost. Harry stopped by him and asked, "Something wrong?"

The boy looked up at the Head Boy and when he recognized who was talking to him, a look of fear came across his face.

Harry couldn't decide whether to be amused or upset. Deciding that getting upset wouldn't help anyone, he chose not to be. "Hey, my name's Harry, what's yours?"

"J-Jake", he told the bigger boy, then he looked over and saw the older girl with long red hair standing next to the Head Boy and was wearing a prefect badge. She was smiling at him, which helped his nerves a bit. She looked friendly even if she was wearing Gryffindor colors.

"You look lost, Jake. What class are you looking for?" Harry was also trying to look around to see if there were any other prefects in sight besides Ginny.

The firstie told him, "Transfiguration."

Finally seeing Pansy Parkinson a little ways away, he asked, "There's one of your prefects," he pointed to Pansy. "Did you try asking her?"

"Yes," he answered and looked down, "but she told me to get lost."

"Oh really?" Harry was surprised. "I'll tell you what, why don't you go ask her again and I'll watch to make sure she helps you, because that's her job. Don't you worry about it, I'll be close by. OK?"

"You sure?" Jake seemed scared.

"Yes, I'll be nearby. And if she says anything bad to you, you don't have to answer, I will. How's that?" Harry did his best to sound reassuring.

"That's OK, I guess ..."

"Go on over Jake," Harry told him. "You won't be able to see me, but I promise I'll be there." He turned the boy around and gave him a slight nudge to get him going. Turning to Ginny he whispered to her, "Stay here and watch my back." She nodded, so Harry disillusioned himself when he saw Pansy was looking the other way and followed Jake over.

Walking up to Pansy, Jake got her attention and asked, "Can you tell me where the Transfiguration class is?"

Pansy looked down at him. "I told you before, I'm busy." She was standing there by herself. "Now go ask someone else and leave me alone you twit."

Harry was definitely upset now. If there was one thing that really ate at him, it was bullies, which Draco Malfoy had been to him for years. Canceling the disillusionment charm on himself caused Pansy to gasp. "Pansy, while it would be wrong for you to ignore someone from another house, I probably wouldn't say too much if you did. But to ignore someone from your own house is inexcusable. You're a prefect; do your job and act like one or go tell Professor Sinistra you resign." He could tell she wanted to hex him. "Don't even think about it Pansy, that would be a bad thing for you to try," he warned, though he kind of hoped she would try.

With a sneer, she turned to the firstie and pointed, "Go up those stairs, down the hall, left, right, up, right, and it's the second door on the left. Hey, Miller," she called to what looked like a third year to Harry. The Slytherin boy named Miller turned and looked at her. "This one isn't sure where the Transfiguration classroom is. Point it out to him." She motioned for Jake to run after Miller, which he did. "Happy, Potter?" she sneered at him again.

"See, that wasn't so hard, was it Pansy?" he smoothly told her. He really wanted to kill her with kindness and hope she tried something. Turning around, he walked away from her, though he did take two steps to the side so Ginny had a clear shot at the girl if need be. As he turned his back on Pansy, he saw his wife standing casually against the wall only sort of looking this way with her right hand by her side and hidden behind her. He knew that stance was anything but casual. He could also feel her tenseness.

Harry had taken no more than six steps away from the Slytherin girl when he saw Ginny whirl and her wand come out of hiding and into motion. Harry also spun quickly and saw a translucent golden shield materialize in front of him as he cast _Petrificus_ _Totalus!_ A bludgeoning spell hit the shield and clanged at the same time Pansy turned bluish and froze.

The first thing Harry did was to turn and smile at Ginny and tell her "Thanks!" She sweetly told him "You're welcome" though he could tell she was seething on the inside and wanted to do bodily harm to Pansy. He walked over to the petrified girl and pulled the wand out of her hand. "Pansy," he told the frozen girl, "that was so stupid of you. Doing something like that makes me wonder how you ever got picked for prefect." Shaking his head, he levitated her with a _Mobilicorpus!_ and started walking towards the Headmistress' office. "Ginny, would you send a Patronus message to Professor Cobb explaining we're having to take a small problem to the Headmistress and we'll be there as soon as the trouble is cleared up?"

"That stupid cow isn't so small, Harry," Ginny told him, then she sent the message while they walked on. Harry had a bit of trouble getting her up the gargoyle stairs they were so narrow, but he didn't really care if Pansy got a few bruises from it or not. Ginny knocked on the door and McGonagall answered.

"What's this?" The Headmistress looked taken aback seeing Harry levitating a petrified prefect Pansy Parkinson.

Pushing Pansy into the office and setting her down in the middle of the floor, Harry explained what happened. "If you'd like Professor, I'll also give you a copy of my memory of this for you to watch in your Pensieve."

She looked thoughtfully at him for a moment then told him, "Yes Mr. Potter, I think I'd like to see that. It might be useful when pressing charges too, but I will need to see it first." She pulled her Pensieve out and Harry extracted the memory for her. "Mrs. Potter, if you'll watch Ms. Parkinson for me. Harry, if you'll accompany me." The two of them dived into the Pensieve to watch what happened.

A few minutes later they came out and McGonagall exclaimed, "My word! That was disgraceful! Twenty-five points to each of you for such excellent tactics and defense." She pulled out her wand and unfroze the Slytherin girl. "Well Ms. Parkinson, what do you have to say for yourself?"

"He set me up!" the girl all but yelled. "I wasn't doing anything wrong."

A stern Headmistress replied, "I saw a Head Boy doing his duty and a prefect who not only wasn't, but who attacked another student. One hundred points from Slytherin." After a slight pause, she again pointed her wand at Pansy and said "_Incarcerous_"; when Pansy started complaining, she also said "_Silencio_".

She turned back to the Potters. "Again, good job defending yourselves. I'll let you go to your class with Professor Cobb. Have him see me if he gives you any trouble for being late. I don't believe you'll have to worry about Ms. Parkinson again."

"Thank you, Professor," they both told her and left for their class. When they were out of the office, a smug look came over Ginny's face; Harry was pretty pleased too.

When they arrived at the Defense classroom, Professor Cobb looked up from his desk and greeted them with, "What trouble found you this time, Potter?" When he realized that name applied to both of them, he grinned and added, "Whichever Potter that applies to."

The two students grinned back. Harry told him what had happen. That caused their Head of House to become very thoughtful for a few moments. He finally asked them, "Are you aware of anyone else who might be a problem for you, safety-wise that is?"

"Well, there's Crabbe and Goyle," Harry told him, "but they may not be much of a problem without Draco to egg them on. Theo Nott might be a problem because his dad was a Death Eater, but he might not be. I really don't know what choice he has made. I'm not sure about anyone else."

Ginny chimed in with, "I'm a bit worried about Millicent Bulstrode, but I'm not totally sure about her."

Cobb nodded as he took that in. "I'll speak with Professor Sinistra and see if she has a read on them, or anyone else who's still strongly pro-Voldemort. Are you friends with any of the Slytherins?"

"I'm working on Blaise Zabini," Harry told him, "but he's not a friend yet."

"All right, I understand. Well enough about all that, we're supposed to be learning something. Let's talk about your classes. Harry, you've finished all your classes except for Potions and Herbology, so those are obviously on your schedule, same for you Ginny. You have four independent study classes: Defense with me, Charms with Flitwick, Transfiguration with McGonagall, and Research and other interesting things with Dumbledore. These are for you to do advanced work in since they are your strengths. You are both fighters," Cobb told them, "so we might as well help you in these areas, plus let you have some fun in them too."

The students smiled at that. "What do you mean by fun, sir?"

The professor looked at them with what seemed like envy. "I mean you'll get to learn what interests you. You'll also get to push the boundaries of magic if you want to, and you'll get to learn the really advanced stuff from some of the best teachers alive today. I would consider that fun in your place." That raised a couple of eyebrows and he got two smiles as they thought that through.

"Ginny," her Head of House looked at her, "your schedule will be a bit more creative because of your needs. About a month before your NEWTs, most of your special classes will change to review so you can revise for your tests. That would be Charms, Transfiguration, Runes, and Arithmancy just before Christmas; then the rest next spring. Also, your class with Dumbledore is where you'll do your Pensieve lessons and he will tutor you in those." The girl nodded her understanding.

"Wednesday, we'll start with your missing year of Potions and then Herbology so you won't be handicapped in those classes; then Runes and Arithmancy so you can take those tests. After the Christmas break, your last Pensieve lesson will be History of Magic to round out your education. Questions?" Neither student had any.

"Now for my class, it will be a time to learn very advanced spells and defense. We will also not ignore the practical aspects either. I liked Tonks' tests where she'd shout _Ready!_ at random times and then start firing spells at you. I will continue that. That being said, I would appreciate if you didn't power share when you defend yourselves, I don't want to get too hurt." He smiled and they laughed.

"The last thing I want to accomplish with you two is to teach you how to research new things, and I'll accomplish that in the time honored tradition of having you help me with my research."

"What are you researching?" Ginny asked.

"Ever since I became an Auror, my life long goal has been to find a shield that will block the Killing Curse." That caused his students to look at him in surprise. "I've been working on it part-time for almost ten years now."

"And you still don't have an answer?" Harry was surprised at the effort.

"Part-time means a few hours here and there Harry," the ex-Auror told him, "and it is a very hard problem, so don't be too surprised. Let's start by looking at shields in general. List them in order by strength."

The boy told him, "Dome, normal, then probably reflective, and finally the heavy duty or Auror grade shield, though those last two might be switched."

Cobb smiled. "I'd agree; there are times the reflective shield might be considered the best shield of them all. Now, who can tell me the most interesting property of these four shields?" He looked back and forth as each of them thought about it. "The property I'm after is most obvious if you consider the dome shield."

"Oh," Harry spoke up, "you mean that the caster can fire through them but others can't hit him from the other side?"

"Very good, Harry!"

"Sir, will a shield block the spells of the caster from the other side too? I guess what I mean is, is the shield truly a one way shield, or is it just attuned to the caster so her spells go through it either way?" Ginny wondered.

"Excellent question, Ginny! Why don't you experiment and find out while we watch," their teacher directed.

"You don't know, sir?"

"As it happens, I do, but learning to do experiments safely is an important element in research. Go on over there and try it; a minor hex only please," Cobb instructed her.

Ginny got up and walked over a ways and cast a normal shield and fired a Tickling hex through it from the back side and it went through normally. Leaving it there, she walked around to the front side of it and cast another tickling hex at it, which clanged and didn't go through.

Cobb smiled and asked, "So what have we learned by that?"

"That shields are really one way shields," Harry said, "though I guess we'd have to try it with them all to be really sure."

"Yes, excellent point, Harry, and research-wise you are correct. I'll speed you up a bit because I have done that and can tell you that all four shields are one way shields for everyone," the Professor told them.

"So Professor," Harry looked like he was struggling with the thought as he spoke, "does that mean that if we could invent a shield what was a two way shield, meaning it blocked both directions, that it would be strong enough to block the Unforgivables?"

The Defense teacher smiled at the young man. "Congratulations, Harry, you've just summarized over five years of my research and theory on how to solve the problem." Harry looked amazed.

"I guess those spell creation books you've been reading will come in handy after all," Ginny told her husband with a smile.

"Yes they will. Well, our abbreviated time is about up. Why don't you two run along and head to lunch, I'll be there shortly as well," their teacher told them. Hand in hand, the Potters left their Defense class excited and with a smile on their faces.

At lunch, they became even more excited when they found out Pansy had been expelled, and Daphne Greengrass had replaced her as prefect. That caused much talk and Harry and Ginny had to relate to everyone what had happened that morning.

Towards the end of lunch, Harry asked his friends what they knew about Daphne and which way she leaned in regard to Voldemort. Neither Ginny nor Hermione knew much about Daphne; Harry decided he'd have to do a little probing with discrete questions into the how all the older Slytherins thought, carefully of course. He wanted to know who his potential enemies were, for he wanted no repeat of last year's episode where Malfoy shot a spell at Ginny from a hiding place. He would protect her.

* * *

Tuesday morning, Harry and Ginny went to Potions class. Outside in the hallway, Harry and Ginny came upon Blaise Zabini and Daphne Greengrass on their way to Potions too. They would be the only two Slytherins in there now that Malfoy was gone. Harry decided he wanted to try to get at least one friend in Slytherin. Someone who could tell him what was really going on in there. "Hello Blaise, Daphne." They returned minimal greetings to him. "Congrats, Daphne on your new position. I suspect you'll do a lot better job than Pansy did."

"Thanks," she told him. He tried getting a read on her emotions but couldn't.

"That was very Slytherin of you Potter in how you got rid of Parkinson," Blaise commented.

Harry wasn't sure how to take that at first, then decided it was probably a compliment. "Uh, thanks, Blaise, though that really wasn't my goal. All I really wanted was for her to do her job and help the kid. But trying to hex me did make it personal." Harry was able to get a quick read on Blaise and it seemed the Slytherin didn't feel hostile to him; his strategy to show it was a personal thing with Pansy and not a vendetta against all Slytherins seemed to be working. Harry decided a little progress at a time was good. "And Daphne, because you missed the meeting on the train, if you want to come by and talk to Hermione or myself some evening, you're welcome to drop in."

"Sure, thanks Harry. Blaise has filled me in on most of it, but maybe I will. I'd like to see what your rooms are like. I hear the bathroom's pretty good too," she told him.

"Hmm, maybe I should have you both come by some time. It'd be fun to get to know some Slytherins who aren't trying to hex my brains out," Harry mused. Blaise snorted at that. "What do you think, Ginny?" Ginny was up for that, and as they arrived at the Potions classroom, it sort of ended the conversation; but Harry was quite pleased at what had happened.

Professor DuPointe started class and she had everyone working alone like Snape did last year, but the results were much different. It was rare for anyone in her class to flat out fail on a grade. She was a good teacher.

Tuesday afternoon, the Potters met with Professor McGonagall for their Transfiguration independent study class. She seemed to take a similar approach to Cobb's.

"Mr. and Mrs. Potter, this class will be for you to pursue more difficult and complex transfiguration spells and accomplishments. I decided to do this because, personally, I've enjoyed teaching both of you and I'd like to see what you are capable of and how much you can do." That surprised the two students.

"I'm also aware that as Headmistress, there will be times I can't meet with you at this time. I will either reschedule or leave work for you to do. You are both advanced enough to take care of yourselves, but should you run into trouble, please see Professors Dumbledore or Gooseman to help you." They agreed. "Now, one of the more advanced transfiguration exercises is to learn to be an Animagus. Have you given any thought to that?"

Harry looked at Ginny and tried to urge her to answer as he wasn't sure how to say what he felt. She finally uttered a quiet, "No Professor, I really haven't given it any thought at all." McGonagall looked at Harry.

"I've given it very little thought Professor, but what little I have, it doesn't seem all that interesting." That surprised the professor, so he had to go on. "No offense Professor as I know it's important to you, and well, if I was still having to battle a Dark Lord where I needed every advantage I could get, I might be more inclined to pursue it, but I just don't have the need - if that makes sense."

"I see," his teacher slowly said. "I take it you're not giving the Auror career path much thought any more?"

Harry considered that carefully before he answered. "No Professor, I'm not. I suppose it's a bit of a waste considering my talents and training, but I think I've had enough of dealing with Dark wizards and witches. I suppose getting married and wanting to be there for Ginny has also diminished that desire."

McGonagall gave him a small smile. "I understand, Harry. Time can change a person. In fact, you have changed greatly since I first met you six years ago."

She hardly ever called him Harry, and he found that touching. "Thank you for understanding. There is a second reason if you wish to know." She indicated he should go on. "Well, I suppose you could also say that I'm not very interested in becoming an Animagus because I don't know what I'd be, and truthfully, there are some animals I just simply don't want to become."

"I see. It is true you won't know what animal you're destined for until it happens, but I've never met another Animagus who didn't like his or her animal. Mrs. Potter, did you want to try it anyway?"

"No Professor, I don't think so. As I don't have a great interest either, and since Harry doesn't want to, that sort of seals it for me as well." The redhead didn't display any emotion, she just didn't seem to care.

McGonagall was so surprised at their answers because most students wanted to try even though very few ever succeeded. "Well in that case, I guess we'll work on some of the harder transfigurations, especially multiple transfigurations simultaneously." So they started doing that for the rest of the time.

As the period ended and it was time for dinner, Harry decided this was as good a time as any for his questions for the Headmistress. "Professor, I have a couple of more personal questions for you if you don't mind."

"Certainly Mr. Potter, I'll answer if I can."

"I don't know if you are aware, but last weekend Professor Dumbledore showed me where my family house is," Harry started explaining.

"Yes, he told me he showed it to you," the older woman answered.

Harry plowed on with his question. "Well, Professor, we, meaning both Ginny and I, would like to be able to leave the school grounds occasionally to visit it and work on restoring it so it will be livable by the time we graduate. Would we be able to do that?"

The Headmistress smiled slightly, Dumbledore had been right. "We don't allow that for all the students, so I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"Could it be very infrequent, like one day a month? We'd even give up our Hogsmeade trip to do that instead, and since I can legally Apparate, I could do so from there." Harry was trying hard to convince her. The fact that Ginny wanted this more than he did motivated him to find a solution.

"To be honest Harry, Hogsmeade trips are when I want you available the most. As Head Boy, you are an authority figure; and you and Ginny are probably the best people with Defense we have should something unexpected happen, or so Professor Dumbledore tells me you are and I do believe him." McGonagall struggled with wanting to ask them about their secret Albus had hinted at, but decided to let it rest for the moment. "Hmm ... How about this Mr. Potter? I'll give you one Sunday a month that you can visit your home, though I reserve the right to revoke this permission at anytime. You can leave after breakfast, but you must return by dinnertime; and you must tell me at our Tuesday class the week before you go."

Ginny smiled and leaned against Harry at her happiness. "Thank you Professor," she said very gratefully. The more Ginny had thought about having a home of their own, the more she really wanted it to be livable and to be able to show her mum what they could do.

The Headmistress was not totally surprised Ginny was happier about that than Harry was, but it was a new side of Ginny she hadn't seen before. She attributed it to Ginny getting married.

"One more thing if I may Headmistress?" Harry again asked. "I don't know if you know this or not either, but I seem to have some sort of connection to Dobby, the house-elf."

Again McGonagall gave a slight smile as she realized Dumbledore was going to be right about this too. "Yes, I have heard you two have a relationship."

"Well Professor, since we did inherit a house, a very dirty house which needs lot of cleaning I might add, we were wondering if we can hire Dobby and also Winky - permanently. Winky is important too because they seem to like each other, if you know what I mean," Harry blushed slightly, "and I wouldn't want to break them up."

Now the teacher was having to fight not to smile. Two house-elves who liked each other and Harry was trying to keep them together; well, that might be Ginny's influence too. No, she decided, both of them probably felt that way, and being newlyweds probably helped that feeling along too. "We have enough elves here, and those two are free elves, so I will leave it up to them. As far as I'm concerned, they can start working for you tomorrow if they want to, or split their time."

"Thank you, Professor!" Harry was quite pleased. Ginny was grinning very broadly as well.

"Why don't you two go on to dinner, you can speak to the elves this evening. Feel free to send them to me if they feel like they need confirmation for this." McGonagall shooed them out. After she'd recovered from her mental laughter, she too left. She couldn't wait to see what Albus' reaction to all this was. She expected an 'I told you so'.

* * *

When Ron and Hermione finally got to dinner that evening, it was to find Ginny and Harry not only eating, but in the best of moods. If the Potters hadn't said they were with Professor McGonagall that afternoon, Ron would have thought they'd skived off class and spent some time in their quarters. After many laughs, giggles, and funny looks from the married couple, they finally promised Ron and Hermione answers after dinner back in their common room.

Arriving back in their common area, Harry finally couldn't take the furniture arrangement anymore and pulled out his wand and transfigured one of the chairs into a couch for two, then he pulled a smirking Ginny onto it with him, where she proceeded to ignore the other cushion and sat on his lap.

"Will you now tell us why you two are in such a good mood?" Hermione almost begged.

"Everything's just wonderful," Ginny pronounced.

"Like what?" her brother asked as he sat in the remaining chair and pulled his fiancée into his lap.

"Well, we've just realized this afternoon that we're becoming normal, Ron," his best mate told him. "We have a house, it's a mess, but it is ours and it will be grand one day."

"Also, we convinced McGonagall to allow us to go there one day month to help make it livable. This is one time I actually want to clean. Can you believe it?" Ginny asked.

Ron joked, "I think you're loony. What did you do to my sister, Harry?"

"But Ginny," Hermione jumped in, "if what you told us last week is true, it's going to take a lot more than eight or nine days to get it clean before we leave here."

"That true," Ginny told her friend, "but you forgot the Christmas and Easter breaks too."

"Still Ginny, you're not going to make it that way so quickly. So why are you so happy?"

"Because," Harry told her, "we have the best help ever." He still got a puzzled look from his friend. "Dobby, Winky, please come here."

The two elves popped in. "Harry Potter Sir! How can we help you," Dobby asked. Winky gave him a small curtsy too.

"You two will be happy to know that the Headmistress has given her permission for you to work for us," Harry told them. The elves seemed to jump for joy and Hermione looked at her friend as if he'd lost his mind. "So our previous arrangements are now valid, we are officially your employers. We also got permission for you to spend your time however you want. So you can spend your work time here or at our house as you see fit. But I must stress to both of you, that we do not want you overworking yourselves. Is that clear?"

Both elves said, "Yes Sir!"

"OK then, you can start tomorrow. Turn over whatever duties you want to the other elves and we'll let you clean the house as much as you want. Though please work on the rooms we mentioned to you the other day, all right?"

"Oh yes Sir, thank you Sir. We be very happy working for you," Dobby praised him.

"Hold a tic Dobby, I almost forgot something." Harry jumped up and almost dumped Ginny onto the floor as he raced into his room. He came back fairly quickly with a small money bag. "Here, take this Dobby. I know you'll need to buy cleaning things, some food, probably new linens and things for your quarters. Whatever you need, buy it with what is here and if you need more, please let me know. OK?"

"Yes Sir!" the two elves told him happy.

"Great, off to bed with you then and get a good night's sleep," Harry commanded and the elves popped out. Hermione and Ron were both still stunned at watching the whole scene.

"You hired them?" Hermione finally asked when she got her voice back.

"Sure," Harry told her as he tried to get comfortable again as Ginny got back onto his lap on the loveseat. "I thought you'd prefer that over enslaving them, and they are quite happy about all this."

"Except for Winky," Ginny chimed in. Harry could feel her starting to laugh and thought he knew what was coming. He just wondered how far she was going to wind Hermione up.

"Ah ha! I knew they wouldn't like it," their brown haired friend exclaimed. "Why did you do it then, Ginny?"

"To be on your good side, Hermione," Ginny said simply.

"My good side?!"

"Sure, Winky really didn't want to be hired." Just as Hermione looked like she was going to explode, Ginny went for the knock out punch. "Yeah, she wanted to be part of the family and enslaved, but we wouldn't let her." Now a big grin came across Ginny's face and a laugh came out of her.

"Ooh, you did that on purpose to me, didn't you?" she accused the red haired girl. Now the two boys started laughing too.

"Uh huh," Ginny laughed some more before she looked to Harry. "So, want to go to the house weekend after next? We can take a picnic lunch with us too. I bet the elves will have made a good start on at least one room by then." He kissed her for agreement.

"Hey, Hermione," Harry got her attention again when he finished with his wife. "Do you think we could have a party for about ten in this room?"

"If we rearranged the furniture, I suppose. Why?" the Head Girl asked.

"Well, I managed to strike up a short conversation with Blaise and Daphne this morning and I think I may be making a little bit of progress with them. I don't think we'll ever be best mates, but I think there's a chance at some level of friendship," Harry told them all.

"Good job, Harry," she said. "I take it you want to have a party with them invited to get to know them better?"

"Yeah, though actually I was thinking about inviting all eight of the seventh year prefects. We could do the same for the fifth and sixth years as well," the Head Boy told them.

"Wow Harry, I'm impressed," Ron spoke up, "you really are trying to get this friendship thing going across houses aren't you?"

"Uh huh. I wonder if I need to order some more cases of Butterbeer?" Harry speculated on that for a moment.

"Oh, you and your Butterbeer," his wife joked with him.

"Hey!" her brother interjected. "Refreshments are important for a party," Ron grinned at her. Looking to his fiancée, "Why don't you girls plan the food? Winky could probably help you too. Next Saturday evening, Harry?"

Harry smiled and told him, "It all sounds good to me, mate." The girls gave the boys a hard time about dragging them into the planning, but they eventually agreed. Harry finally volunteered to send out invitations since it was his idea. Their first party was on.

They talked about a few other fun things for awhile before Hermione brought them back to the real world with homework. The four of them dug out their books and started in, though Ron made Harry turn the other chair into a loveseat too.

* * *

Thursday morning the Potters went to meet with Flitwick. Both of them liked the little Professor and they liked his subject.

"Mr. and Mrs. Potter, come in, come in," the little professor told them when they reached his classroom. "I'm glad you're here, this should be a lot of fun this year. You've both done so well in the last year. Congratulations again on your victory."

"Thank you sir," they both told him.

"Now, much of what we do will depend on what you want to do, so tell me what interests you. Mrs. Potter?"

"I'd like to continue on as if there was an eighth year, just keep doing more and more advanced charms, but practical ones if we can," Ginny told him. He nodded and looked to Harry.

"Well, I'd like to work on learning wards, how to reverse spells, what makes them up, and potentially how to put new ones together," Harry told the man.

"Oh excellent, I was hoping you'd give different answers," the professor said excitedly. "So we shall do those things, and you can work mostly independently, then I'll have you share your research and you can both learn what the other is doing too, so it'll be like having two classes. This will be so much fun."

"Professor, can you teach me one charm first?" Harry asked. "It would be very helpful for me as Head Boy."

"Certainly Mr. Potter, what is it?"

Harry pulled some parchment out of his bag. "I have this invitation I've written out and I'd like to make seven more just like it. Surely there's a printing press like spell."

"Why yes there is. Oh, you're having a party for the prefects. This is for them to get to know one another better, I presume?" Flitwick asked. Harry told him yes. "Excellent idea Mr. Potter, here's how it's done." The little man demonstrated the spell. Ginny found it interesting too.

That done, the teacher went to the shelf and pulled down a couple of books and handed them to Ginny. Going back, he did some more searching and finally came back with three more which he handed to Harry. "Let's start with these. You know, Mr. Potter, this is much like your mother's last year. She did extra work with me as she was so gifted with charms. The fact that you and your young lady both are too just seems right." He smiled at them.

Somehow, Harry liked the little wizard even more right then.

* * *

Friday morning the Potters went to their old training classroom from last year to meet with Dumbledore. It hadn't changed any. "Come in," he told them when they opened the door. "Ah, it appears you did get my note then Harry."

"Yes sir." He put the bag he was carrying on the desk and pulled out his small Pensieve. "Professor Cobb already gave Ginny the first lesson on Wednesday."

"Good. Ginny, why don't you do your second one of this series and you can lay down here and recover. Here's your homework for them." The old man handed her a parchment with several essay questions on it about the potions and procedures she would be learning. "The door is still keyed as is it was last year, so you should be quite safe in here."

"You won't be staying in here then?" she asked.

"No, Harry and I are going to go on a walk around the castle and explore some little used parts of it. I can have Fawkes stay here with you if you like though," Dumbledore offered.

"Yes please, I would feel better if someone else was here," she told him.

"Fawkes?!" A couple of seconds later the beautiful bird flashed in and landed on the desk. "Will you please stay here and keep Ginny company while Harry and I leave for a while?" The bird looked at the students and then trilled a short song. The professor smiled. "He says that he will watch over you."

"What else did he say, Professor? That seemed to be a little longer answer than just that," Harry asked him.

A smile came across the old man's face and his eyes seemed to twinkle just a little bit more. "He also said that you two are well mated," the young couple started blushing, "which I take to mean that you are well matched, and I agree."

Harry walked over to the bird and very softly stroked the side of his head. "Thank you for watching over my mate for me, Fawkes. She means a great deal to me." The bird gave a short chirp as if saying, "Of course."

When Harry turned away from the bird, it was to see Ginny giving him a look of great love, which he suddenly felt from her too. He smiled his back at her.

Dumbledore handed a piece of parchment to him. "I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news Harry, but here's the bill for the Potion and Herbology Pensieve lessons."

Harry took it and saw that it was for two thousand Galleons. "You weren't kidding last year when you said they were expensive, were you?"

The former Headmaster laughed. "No, but again, it's not really a burden is it? Especially now that you have your full family vault?"

"No sir, but it's still somewhat of a surprise. Shall we go get it now while we start the tour you wanted to take me on?"

"That would be fine, though I'm in no hurry for it. Do you happen to have your wonderful Marauder's Map on you now or will we need to pick that up too? I'd like to have it with us," Dumbledore told him.

A shocked looked came over Harry. "You know about that?"

Chuckling, Dumbledore told him, "Yes, Harry. I caught your father and Sirius with it once. It is a most remarkable work. I was also aware the Weasley twins had liberated it some time back and I put a Suggestion charm on George for him to give it too you a few years back, knowing that it really belonged to you."

"You did? I mean, you wanted it to come to me?" Harry was taken aback by this. He saw Ginny was very interested in this tidbit of news as well.

"Yes, Harry. It was one of the very few things that existed from your father, so I thought it important to come to you, even if one of the original Marauders still existed and had a prior claim to it." Dumbledore smiled at him.

"Thank you, sir. Thank you for that and for the cloak." Harry was suddenly hit with a wave of grief about his missing parents.

Dumbledore turned to Ginny. "Well young lady, if you'll do your lesson quickly, I'll give you your headache potion and have you lie down before we leave." She nodded and got on with it. When she lay down on the couch, Fawkes came over and sat on the arm of the chair looking down at her. She smiled up at him and drifted off for a nap. Harry had recovered by then, so Dumbledore led him out of the room.

As they walked out of the room, Dumbledore told him, "Your first homework assignment from me Harry is to talk with Remus about how the map was made so others can be made too, not only of Hogwarts, but of other places as well. I believe he was the brains behind creating it, so he should be able to tell you, or at least give you the basics if the others did parts of it."

Harry smiled at that. "That would be cool, I've always wondered about that anyway, so this will be a fun assignment."

"I'm glad you think so," his teacher told him and chuckled. "Speaking of fun, Filius told me you're planning to have a party. I guess you're taking the Sorting Hat's suggestion to heart?"

"I suppose, though to be honest," Harry confided, "I started working on inter-house unity on the train ride here before the Welcoming Feast. I've asked the prefects to think of ways to help that along. My first idea was to have a party sort of like the Yule Ball a few years back, but get someone like the Weird Sisters to come play. You know, something that would be fun for everyone, lots of food, talking, and stuff where houses didn't matter. Do you think the Headmistress would allow something like that?"

They arrived at the Head rooms but they kept talking. "I think she would. I could probably even get the Weird Sisters to come if you'd like."

"Really?! That would be so awesome." the boy looked thrilled.

The old man laughed. "Yes I can probably get them here. If you remember our talk from just before your wedding, I told you that fame does occasionally have its uses. This would be one of them. In addition to mine, I'll also mention that you'd like to meet them too and it will almost guarantee they'll come."

Harry thought about that. "I guess I'm not opposed to doing that, but I will say that's not something I would normally do."

The smile stayed on Dumbledore's face. "You're a very unusual young man, Harry. I hope you stay that way." Harry pulled the money out of his bag and handed it to Dumbledore. Grabbing the map, they left for their walk.

They went downstairs into the dungeon area. "Professor," Harry said after a few moments of silence, "speaking of the Sorting Hat, do you know why it sorted the way it did this year? I mean, I know that it won't divide the new students evenly every year, but it has usually kept the houses somewhere near about the same size. This year it wasn't even close."

"Ah, you noticed that too, did you?"

"Yes sir, I know the Hat talked about unity, but I don't think having only one house, or no houses would work very well."

"If we follow traditions, you are correct Harry. Why do you think it wouldn't work?"

Harry had thought about this some and was curious as to what Dumbledore would think. "First, while Gryffindor Tower could hold maybe double the number of students it does now, it couldn't possibly hold all the students, and I would guess all the other houses areas are the same way."

"You are correct Harry, none of the houses could hold all the students."

"Second, our Quidditch games, house cup, and probably other things I'm not thinking of are based around houses, and competition between them," Harry stated.

"Yes, that would be another problem; but I suppose we could find someway to create Quidditch teams," Dumbledore told him.

"I suppose, but I just can't see how it could possibly work," Harry told him quite seriously.

Dumbledore stopped in front of a door before he said, "Then I suppose the Sorting Hat must have meant another kind of unity Harry," he said and smiled at the lad. "Like maybe the type of unity you've already started working on." Harry looked at him in deep thought. "Why don't we look in here, it's been a long time since I've seen some of these rooms."

The door was opened and Harry saw an old classroom. It was quite dusty and also totally empty. "Why are we down here, Professor?" Harry asked as they went to the next one.

"As I said, it's been a while and I do like to look at all the rooms from time to time. You never know what you'll find." They opened another door and this room wasn't quite totally empty, it contained a blanket. "Hmm, this one has seen visits of a nature it shouldn't," the old man said. Harry wasn't sure what to say, so he kept quiet. "I suppose I'll have to discourage this sort of thing. We can't have the parents accusing us of not being responsible educators."

Harry watched him pull out his wand and go through a complicated spell. When he was done, there in the middle of the ceiling was a small object that he recognized as an Amorous Monitor. The Head Boy wondered if he could remember that spell to study it, and then remembered it didn't matter; he had a Pensieve to study things like this. "I wondered how those were created. I've never seen mention of them in any of our books," he commented.

The old wizard chuckled as he went to leave the room. "No Harry, you won't find that in any book because I created that spell some years ago."

"Oh," Harry said in a small voice. They continued on to other rooms. "Professor, how many students would we need to have to use all of these rooms?"

"We have almost four hundred students now, and we'd need about triple that number to use most of the empty rooms we have." Harry looked surprised at that. "No Harry, they all couldn't live here, but we've had day students in the past." They continued on talking about various topics as they walked through the castle. Eventually, they made their way back to the training room and found Ginny was awake and working on her essays. Fawkes seemed to be studying her. By then, it was lunchtime so they all left.

They had no classes scheduled for Friday afternoons so Harry was making suggestions on what they could do. Ginny tried to keep him on track with studying, but her heart wasn't totally in it after he told her what he'd like to do, so she eventually gave in and they did spend part of the afternoon in their quarters in a different kind of independent study.

* * *

(A/N 2012: I wasn't sure how to make it clear in the story, but when Harry is with the Slytherins and is "reading" them, he's not reading their thoughts, as he promised himself to try not to do. What he's doing is using Legilimency to read their emotions which is based on external "observations", like a magical version of people twitching when they lie. It's very similar to how Harry and Ginny can not lie to each other in this story because their emotions give that away. Yes, he's walking a very fine line, but in his mind, he's keeping his promise.)


	28. Construction

Version: 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

**Chapter 28: Construction**

On Saturday morning, most of Gryffindor house went to the Quidditch pitch, as Ron had put up a notice at the beginning of the week for tryouts. As captain, he was really looking forward to the games this year. Not only was he in charge, but Ron felt their team had a very good chance of winning since they only had to replace one Chaser. Katie Bell had been the only seventh year student last year. Next year would be a problem as the team would lose three players, as Ron, Ginny, and Harry would all be graduating.

While several new students who hadn't played last year tried out for the position, in the end Ron picked fourth year Natalie McDonald from last year's reserve team to fill the missing Chaser position. He also found a third year boy to take the reserve spot Natalie left vacant.

Ron felt so confident about the team that he only scheduled three practices a week. He was the only one smiling about that.

* * *

The second week of school came and went. Everyone was getting settled into a normal routine. The second weekend was different though.

Saturday night was the party for the seventh year prefects and the Head common room started filling with people a little bit after dinner. Harry was a little taken aback that everyone came, but considering he'd mentioned snacks, drinks, and music, he supposed he shouldn't have been too surprised. He'd even managed to borrow a Wizarding Wireless Network radio from Tonks for the music.

All in all, everyone seemed to think it was a blast. There was barely enough Butterbeer with the three cases Harry had, but he felt it was a sacrifice that was worth it. He could always order more.

When the party ended near midnight, the remaining foursome considered it a success. The fact that everyone could go back to their dorms without getting into trouble because they were all prefects just made it better.

Harry had had several chances to talk to the Slytherin prefects and his quick passive reads of their current projected emotions (not thoughts) showed them to be friendly to him, Daphne a bit more than Blaise. He continued to reach out to them happy with the progress he was making.

Sunday morning seemed to come early, but the Potters got up anyway because they had scheduled their first trip home for today, which McGonagall had approved.

They dressed in work clothes and were at breakfast as soon as possible. After eating quickly, they went to the kitchens and found Winky who was assembling a picnic basket for them and promised to take it to the house to make it easier on the couple. So they let her do that and started walking for the gates. As soon as they were outside the Hogwarts grounds, with none of the other students apparently the wiser, Ginny grabbed Harry's arm for Side-Along-Apparation and they disappeared. A couple of seconds later, they appeared in the street right in front of their house. No one else was around.

Walking up to the house, the first thing they saw was that it was easier to get to the front door. Dobby had apparently cleared away enough of the overgrowth that the sidewalk was usable. As they arrived at the door, Dobby opened it.

"Harry Potter Sir! We is glad to see you." They walked in and were amazed at what had been done already. "We hope you like it, we've been working hard."

"You have," Harry struggled to talk. The difference was profound. "Dobby, you two haven't been overworking yourselves have you?"

"Oh no Sir, we've haven't been at Hogwarts very much though. We hope you don't mind." The elf seemed bashful.

"No Dobby, you are both doing a fantastic job," Ginny told him and Winky, who had just walked in from the kitchen area. Indeed, the room looked almost perfect. No dust or any grime was to be found; the room looked clean and bright - cheerful even.

"Thank you Sir. We are sorry we haven't got it all done. In fact, this room still needs work; it was so dirty," Winky apologized.

"Winky, Dobby! Please don't apologize. I know there was a lot to do and it's only been one week. There's plenty of time before Christmas to make it inhabitable," Harry admonished them. "Today, you get to do something different," Harry announced. "Dobby, you and I are going to work on the outside for awhile." The elf seemed pleased to work with Harry directly.

"And Winky," Ginny addressed the other elf, "you and I are going to make plans about decorating and what colors to make everything." Her elf brightened at hearing that. Harry had told Ginny she could do whatever she wanted in that area. It had taken her some time to accept that since she wanted to make Harry happy as he would be living there too, but he finally got through to her that she would do a far better job at that than he would.

The two males went outside and began clearing the overgrowth, especially the stuff growing up the side of the house that shouldn't be there. When an area was clear that also had a window, Harry would levitate Dobby up to the window so he could clean the outside of it. It took them all morning, but by lunchtime, they had the front of the house done for at least ten feet out.

Inside, Ginny and Winky walked around and talked about everything they saw, as well as what worked and what was broken and needed to be fixed or replaced. By lunchtime, the list was getting quite long and they'd only done the first floor.

Taking the picnic basket to the living room, which was the only one of two clean places in the house, the four beings sat down and ate. They also got to know one another better, and a very surprising thing was revealed.

"So, Dobby, is there anything that needs to be done to help you here?" Harry asked. "I want to make sure you and Winky are happy."

"We is mostly happy Harry Sir," he was told.

"Mostly Dobby? What's missing? What else do you need?" Both of the Potters truly cared for the elves; it must have showed because Dobby confided something neither of the teens was expecting.

"There is one thing that would make us even happier, even better than if we was family, which would make us very happy too," Dobby told them. Then turning to look at Winky he said, "We be wanting to marry. Winky and I want to be together just like you and Mrs. Ginny." Winky got a big smile on her face and seemed to look down though her eyes stayed on Dobby.

Ginny looked at Harry and they smiled as they remembered when they had fallen in love and wanted to get married. They were very happy for the two elves.

"I think that would be wonderful, Dobby," Harry finally broke the silence. "If you can tell me how it's done for elves, I'll do my best to help you make it happen."

The two elves looked joyfully at him. "It is very simple, as our master, you say we are married and we are."

"But Dobby, we are not your master, only your employer," Harry corrected him.

"Same thing to us Harry Potter, you can do this for us. Will you please do this for us?" Dobby was very serious and wistful sounding, the first time Harry had every heard him sound like that.

"Is this what you want, Winky?" Harry thought it obvious from her face, but he felt like he had to ask. Ginny gave him a "you're stupid" look, but he didn't see it.

"Oh yes Sir. Winky very much wants to marry Dobby. He has been very good to Winky."

"OK, when would you two like to be married?"

"Would you do it today? Then we could stay here all the time if we were married," Winky told him.

Harry had seen this indeed was the cleanest room, though good progress had been made on the kitchen. "But why stay here, it's still dirty."

"Oh, our elf quarters are clean too," Winky told him. "We would have a very nice place to stay, Mr. Harry."

"Very well," Harry decided. He didn't have to ask Ginny, he could feel that she thought this was wonderful. "Since we have to leave in a few hours, how about we do the wedding just before we go, then you two can have the next week off."

"No Harry Sir, we could not do that," Dobby objected and Winky seemed to be about to do the same, based on the look on her face.

"We insist," Ginny backed her husband up. "All newlyweds should have a honeymoon. No work next week. Stay here and relax, go somewhere and have fun, whatever you want to do." When they looked like they were about to protest again, Ginny added, "That's an order." The elves started to argue then realized they really couldn't.

"Great, that's settled," Harry told everyone as he rose from his position on the floor. "Dobby, let's go work on the side of the house with that big vine on it. Hopefully, we can get that done before the wedding."

Ginny duplicated the list she'd made that morning with the spell Flitwick had shown them the previous week. She gave the copy to Winky and told her this was for the week after their honeymoon so she'd know what to do for paint, wallpapers, and so forth. Then they headed into the kitchen to clean together. Being married, the restriction on underage magic didn't apply to Ginny when it came to domestic spells. The redhead no longer found cleaning something to complain about now that she could use magic.

Outside, Harry and Dobby worked on the vines that seemed to be clinging to everything. Some of them came right off, but the big vine with pointed leaves and a number of little vines around it seemed to have a mind of their own, literally. They could not get anywhere near to the big vine without being attacked by it. It was obviously a magical plant, but neither Harry nor Dobby had ever seen it before and didn't know what to do.

With his afternoon all but gone, Harry finally decided that he'd suffered enough and accumulated enough scratches from the plant that he needed help from someone like Professor Sprout. He had Dobby find a small pot, then picking a small two foot long vine that was the farthest away from the biggest one, Harry quickly dug it up and put into the pot so he could take it to his teacher. He only got a few more scratches doing that. He was starting to wonder if he was going to have to Vanish the big vine, but he really didn't want to do that unless he had to.

Everyone washed up inside and then went to the living room. Dobby grabbed Winky's hand and they both looked at Harry. Suddenly nervous and unsure of himself, he looked at Ginny. She whispered to him, "Just make something up, you've been to a wedding recently, say something like that."

Harry looked down at the elves and said, "We are gathered today to join Dobby and Winky in marriage. Ah, Dobby, do you take Winky as your wife and promise to love, honor, and cherish her as long as you both shall live?"

Very softly and reverently, Dobby replied, "I do promise."

"And Winky, do you take Dobby as your husband and promise to love, honor, and cherish him as long as you both shall live?"

"I do promise," she squeaked nervously and actually blushed.

"Right, then I pronounce you, ah, husband and wife. We wish you much happiness. You may kiss the bride Dobby." Dobby now blushed, but he gave Winky a hug anyway and put his face to hers and touched foreheads and noses.

Harry looked at Ginny and saw as well as felt her reliving her wedding. Smiling, he grabbed her hand and pulled her to the front door. As they got there, they heard, "Thank you Harry Potter Sir!" Looking back, he saw two of the happiest house-elves he'd ever seen.

"You're welcome. We were serious about taking the week off. No work until a week from tomorrow. Now go have fun!" He pulled his wife through the front door then locked it behind him. Picking up his potted plant from the front porch, they Apparated back to school.

They walked through the gate towards the front doors of the school. Ginny was very quiet and still sending out large waves of happiness and contentment. "No homework tonight, I suppose?" he asked her.

She smiled up at him and put her arm around his waist as they walked. "No, I think a bath after dinner and then to bed. Want to join me?" she asked mischievously.

"That's an invitation I wouldn't dream of passing up," he told her and quickly kissed her as they reached the steps to the front door.

They went straight into the Great Hall since it was dinnertime. Reaching their table, Harry looked up and saw McGonagall look at them and smile. He suspected she would be purposefully looking for them to make sure they got back. He sat the small vine down on the table next to his seat as he helped Ginny sit down. As he took his seat, he heard Neville all but shout, "Harry! Where'd you get the Cat's Paw!? Do you know how rare that plant is?"

"No, but I can tell you how much it hurts to try to pull one up," he replied a bit heatedly as he recalled his scratches.

Neville looked mortified. "You didn't really pull any up did you? That would kill them."

"No Neville I didn't, but it wasn't from lack of trying let me tell you. The big one wouldn't let me; this one was just far enough I got away with it without being killed."

"What do you mean _the big one_?"

"Oh about thirty foot tall or so, that big enough for you?" Harry thought Neville was going to faint.

Then Professor Sprout came up. "I did hear right, you do have a Cat's Paw!" She was excited too. "Wherever did you get it, Mr. Potter?"

Harry didn't know if he wanted to answer that, so he looked to his wife, who was dishing food onto their two plates. "Don't worry Harry, it's all hidden."

Realizing she had a good point, he told them, "There's a whole bunch of them at our family house. I'd like to get rid of them actually. You want this one, Neville?"

"You'd do that Harry?" Neville looked amazed. "They're fairly rare and worth quite a bit."

"Sure, it's yours. And I'll tell you what, come help me get rid of the big one and you can have another small one too." Harry thought he was getting the better end of the deal, but Neville had always liked strange plants.

"Done!" Neville agreed happily. "We'll just need lots of milk."

"Huh?"

"Milk, Mr. Potter," Sprout said as she stroked the plant's leaves which seemed to wrap slowly and sensuously around her hand. "It makes then docile for a short period of time. Did I hear you correctly that you had a thirty foot tall Cat's Paw?"

"Yes, Professor. Would you like it? I don't know what else to do with it and it's got to go as I'm afraid of what it will do to our house."

"Other than breaking windows, probably nothing," his professor told him. "They are good to have around the home, as long as they aren't too big, as they eat mice and other vermin. A thirty foot specimen? That must be a really old one. I don't know that I've ever heard of one that big." She paused and stroked the vine some more. "And yes Mr. Potter, I'd be happy to take it off your hands. Come see me when you're ready to transplant it and I'll give you a big barrel to transport it in. I'll go if I'm available, but you should have at least four people there with a plant that big."

"Thank you, Professor; I'll see what I can do." Harry told her as she petted the plant one more time before returning to the teacher's tables.

Harry dug into his food as he was really hungry from the work that day. On the other hand, Neville hardly ate anything more that evening as he was enraptured with his new plant. Looking at his friends, Harry saw the gleam in Ron's and Hermione's eyes as they'd followed that conversation. Smiling at them, he simply said, "The Sunday after our Quidditch game." Smiles broke out on their faces. He'd have to make arrangements with the Headmistress, but he felt she'd let his friends go since he was donating the plant to the school for study.

* * *

It was nearing midnight of the third Wednesday in September. Harry had finally gotten Ginny to stop doing homework and come to bed. He had her giggling as he kissed her neck when there was a pounding on their door along with a shout of "Harry! Harry! Open up!" that sounded a lot like Hermione.

"You think she'll go away if we ignore her?" he softly asked as he kissed and breathed into her ear. Hermione was shouting his name again and telling him to wake up.

His wife moaned with pleasure. "I think you're going to have to answer it to get her to go away, but don't be gone too long, I like what you've been doing."

He lit one torch with the wave of a hand then got up and put his robe on as he heard Hermione shouting for the third time. Opening the door, he saw the Head Girl with bushier than normal hair who was looking embarrassed at the sight of him in just his robe. Then he watched her look past him to see Ginny sitting in bed with the sheet pulled up to cover herself, though her bare shoulders were sticking out.

"I-I-I'm so sorry Harry, Ginny," she stammered in embarrassment. "I didn't know I was interrupting anything; I didn't hear anything outside the door."

"You shouldn't have, that's what Imperturbable charms are for. Don't look so surprised, we are licensed to do this sort of thing you know." He pointed to a small frame on the wall that Ginny had put up which held their marriage license.

The Head Girl blushed deep red and looked down, even more embarrassed. Harry also felt extreme laughter coming from his wife. A glance back showed her shaking and head thrown back, but he couldn't hear it since he was outside the charm.

Hermione finally took a deep breath and pulled her head up and looked Harry right in the eyes and managed to keep looking only there. "Harry, you have to come now. Professor McGonagall sent me a Patronus message that a troll is loose in the castle and we have to go help find it so it can be sent back to the forest."

"Please, Hermione, you're going to have to do better than that. That's so first year." He wasn't too thrilled with the joke considering what he'd been interrupted from.

"Really Harry, there's a family of wood trolls in the Forbidden Forest and one of them wandered in through the front door and is somewhere in the dungeon area. We have to go help."

"Actually, Dumbledore told me it's a small clan of eight trolls in the Forest. You're serious aren't you?" he asked as he started considering she wasn't just trying to pull one over on him.

"Yes," she said exasperatedly. "Will you please hurry up?"

"Very well, keep your knickers on, I'll be ready to go with you in a minute." He shut the door on her, but not before he'd seen an even more surprised look on her face at his comment.

Harry grabbed some trousers and pulled them on. Ginny was still chuckling. "We're licensed to do this ... Oh that was good Mr. Potter."

Finding and putting on his slippers, he walked over to her for a goodbye kiss. "Be back as soon as I can, luv. Don't go away."

With a light laugh she told him, "I don't think so, but do hurry Harry." He started to leave when she added, "Oh Harry, you might want your glasses."

Smiling at her, he said, "Thanks!" and then "_Accio glasses!_" Putting them on, he opened the door to see Hermione still there waiting on him. "Let's go," he told the Head Girl. Hermione was looking him over and Harry suspected he looked quite the sight with his slippers, pants and robe; not to mention his wild hair was even wilder than usual, plus his wand in his hand. No matter, that was what everyone was going to see in the middle of the night.

As they got to the main stairs leading to the dungeons, they heard faint shouts. Breaking into a run, they quickly came upon Professors McGonagall and Cobb trying to contain a medium sized troll as well as prevent it from doing too much damage to the castle. Because of the dual effort, they weren't really able to subdue it. Knowing that trolls were similar to giants in that many single spells wouldn't work on them, Harry watched for a few seconds before a plan suggested itself.

"Come on, Harry, we have to do something!" Hermione urged him when they'd arrived there. The professors were so busy they hadn't noticed the students.

"Patience, Hermione, patience." Harry watched for an opening. He knew what he wanted to do and had his wand ready. As the troll turned and started to walk towards everyone, Harry mumbled "_Incarcerous!_" and aimed the ropes at the troll's legs. Soon they were tied up, and because he was trying to walk, the inevitable happened: the troll tripped and fell over.

The two professors looked at the students, surprised at seeing them there and for containing the troll. "Might I suggest four stunners at once," Harry commented as if he were discussing the weather. "On the count of three, one - two - three - _STUPEFY!_" Four red jets of light hit the troll and he stopped struggling and went limp.

McGonagall turned to him and said, "Thank you, Mr. Potter. That was very timely."

"No problem, Professor. I picked up some experience with trolls six years ago." He fought to keep a smirk off his face. Hermione's hand flew to her mouth to contain a laugh and even McGonagall seemed to have to work to suppress a smile. Only Cobb didn't catch the reference so he was looking amongst the other three for some sort of clue as to what Harry was talking about. Hearing footsteps behind him, Harry turned and saw Flitwick and Sprout arrive to help. "If you don't need me, I'd like to return to my room, Professor."

"Certainly Mr. Potter, I think we can handle it from here. Ms. Granger, you may return too." She turned to her fellow teachers to coordinate levitating the troll back out to the forest while the students left.

As they got away from the crowd, Hermione commented, "You're in an awfully good mood tonight Harry."

"Well, you would be too with a wonderful redheaded mate." Hermione blushed at his reply. "Oh wait, you're going to get one of those this summer aren't you?"

"Ha, ha - you're so funny Harry."

"Just you wait, Hermione, you'll see what I mean. Then all you'll be able to think about for awhile is," he switched to a false female voice, "Oh Ron!" He started laughing and she slugged him on the arm which only spurred him to make more girlish exclamations. After several of those, he finally stopped and told her in his own voice, "I'll tell you what, I'll let you borrow my island to help you get it out of your system."

"You have an island?!"

"Yeah, it's a secret though, so no telling. But yeah, that's where we went on our honeymoon. Talk about it with Ron. It'll be my wedding present to you if that's what you want," he told her. He and Ginny hadn't told anyone the island they had stayed at was Harry's, just that they had rented an island.

"Wow, thanks Harry! I'll mention it to him and see what he thinks." They were back at their rooms and she went straight to hers. Harry waited a moment before he opened his door as he could guess what he would find waiting for him when he opened it based on the feelings he was getting from Ginny. That caused him to wonder if there was more room somewhere behind one of his walls to make a bigger apartment so the bed wasn't visible from the doorway.

Feeling a bit of impatience from his wife, he smiled and walked in to find her lying on the bed, on top of covers. "I thought you'd never return," she told him huskily. All thoughts about his quarters left his mind as he shut the door behind him.

* * *

The next morning when the Potters came to breakfast, Ron greeted them with a bit of a smile on his face. After his best mate started helping himself to the food, he decided to have some fun. "So Harry, what's this I hear about you telling my fiancée to keep her knickers on?"

It took him a second to cotton onto what Ron was talking about and to see the slight smile, recognizing it for what it was: an opportunity for fun. Hermione must have already told him about what happened last night. "Yeah, she seemed to get them in a twist and I was afraid of what might happen after that." He kept his face as normal as possible and out of the corner of his eye he could see Ginny trying to do the same, but not totally succeeding.

"I see," but Ron didn't seem quite satisfied. "But what I don't understand is why she got so, ah, twisted."

Hermione couldn't take it anymore. "Ron," she hissed. Ron tried to look innocent.

Ginny had to join in. "Yeah, I don't see what the problem was. We have written permission to enjoy ourselves."

Everyone's smiles grew, except for Hermione's. "Really now, I was just doing my job as Head Girl." Ron tried to put his arm around her, but she shrugged it off making him try again. He finally got a hold of her and held her close until she stopped struggling.

"Sorry, 'Mione, it was just one of the funniest things I've heard in a long time, and I wanted to have some fun with Harry too," her fiancé told her.

"And you're so fun to mess with Hermione," Harry told his usually serious friend.

She harrumphed.

"You really are, you know," Ginny told her. "Why do you think Ron's done it all these years?" That got her a caustic look, though Ron received a more thoughtful one.

"And Harry?" Ron waited until his friend looked back at him, "thanks for the wedding present offer. We'll think carefully about it."

"No problem as long as the secret part stays secret."

"You got it," the redhead said.

* * *

While Ginny was in the library doing research for a Runes essay that evening, Harry was sitting at his desk in his room looking at the Marauder's Map and thinking about last night. He could see a dot labeled with his name on it as well as the room he was in very easily. The other rooms around him were also quite obvious, except for along the back wall behind where the bed was; there appeared to be nothing there. Yet, in looking at layout of the other floors, especially the fifth floor, it looked like there should be something there.

Getting up and looking out the window to the right, the bottom of the turret that three floors up held the Headmistress' office was clearly visible. So what was in that area behind the wall in his bedroom? Maybe he needed more help, and there was one person who he could always turn to when it came to knowledge about finding an unusual place in the castle.

"Dobby? I need your help."

The house-elf popped into his room. "Yes Harry Sir, how can I help you?"

"Dobby, do you know what's behind that wall?" He pointed at his back wall.

"I have never been there, Sir," he said after a few seconds of thought. "There is nothing there."

"But there should be something there Dobby. I can see a wall on the outside, and rooms all around the area, so it must be enclosed," Harry argued.

"Yes, Sir. I meant that there is nothing built there; it is empty."

That sounded promising to Harry. "Is there a way to get into the area?"

"Not that I know of, Sir."

"Dobby, do house-elves know how to do construction, like build walls and ceilings and such?"

"Yes Sir; we use magic to do that. That is what we are doing at your house too."

Harry was surprised to hear that. "I thought you were only cleaning and organizing?"

"Winky and I is doing that Sir, but we are also fixing holes in the walls, replacing rotten boards, and other repairs too." Dobby looked quite proud of himself.

"So if I found a space back there behind this wall, you could help me fix it up, Dobby?"

"Yes Sir; I would be happy to help you."

"Thank you, Dobby." Harry was pleased to hear that. "I'll keep that in mind."

* * *

When Harry went to Saturday morning breakfast a few days later, he approached the Headmistress as she appeared to finish eating. "Professor McGonagall, I have a question about the castle. Could you come to our quarters for a few minutes so we could discuss it?"

McGonagall was intrigued and wondered what Harry had in mind. "Should I bring Professor Dumbledore? He has more knowledge about the building itself."

Harry hadn't thought about that for some reason and he realized he should have. "That might be a good idea if he's free. I'll leave that up to you and him though."

"Very well, Mr. Potter. We'll be there shortly," she told him.

As he went back to his spot at the table, Ginny asked him what that was all about. He smiled mischievously at her. "Come back to our room and you'll find out." She gave him a small, exasperated sigh, but got up and followed him back. While Harry was having a bit of fun, he didn't want to announce his project to the whole world, or even Hogwarts, just yet.

When they got back to their room, Harry left the door open and also opened the window. Finally he called Dobby and had him wait with them. "What's this about, Harry?" Ginny asked. As he was about to answer, Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore arrived.

"Please come in Professors," Harry closed the door behind them after they had entered the already crowded room. He came right to the point, "Headmistress, I know this is quite unusual, but I'd like permission to make a permanent modification to the castle."

Both professors were taken aback by that. "Yes, that would be most unusual, Mr. Potter. What did you want to do and more importantly, why?" McGonagall asked.

"If it was only me living here, I would not ask this," Harry told them, "but since there are two of us, I've noticed there are times when we need a bit more privacy." They looked at him to go on. "You see, there are times when one of us needs to open the door and the other is, ah, not ready for that. So if someone else is outside in the common room, it ah, causes difficulties." Harry was trying not to be embarrassed and failing as he was turning slightly pink.

Dumbledore smiled at him. "Yes Harry, I think I can understand the problem. What did you have in mind? I assume you do have an idea since you asked us here."

"Yes, Professor. As far as I can tell, with Dobby's help, there is empty space behind this back wall." Harry pointed to the named wall. "I'd like permission to take a few of the stones out of the wall to verify that, and assuming I am correct, take enough out to make a doorway and then take over that area as a bedroom, so we have an extra door, and therefore some extra privacy. If you like, you can look out the window and see that area should be enclosed, yet no one knows of a way to get in there; so we think it is empty space."

McGonagall looked at Dumbledore, "I don't think I have a problem with that. Albus, since you know the building better, what do you think?"

"I can't think of any reason not to. Exactly how did you plan to look in there Harry?"

"Well sir, I thought I'd shrink down a few of the blocks and then pull them out. Once we have a hole big enough for Dobby to go through, I thought he could carefully take a look for us so we didn't have make too big a hole." Harry looked at Dobby, "Would you be willing to do that for me Dobby?"

"Yes Sir, I'd be glad to do that. It sounds easy," the elf said.

Everyone seemed to agree to that, and Ginny really liked the idea. So Harry moved the bed over and pulled three good sized blocks out very carefully, making sure nothing was going to fall before he conjured a torch for Dobby and had the little elf crawl through. Fortunately, there was a floor there, which wasn't a given since they were on the third floor to start with; there might have been a hole two stories deep.

"Yes Harry Sir, you guess correct, this is the bottom of the turret and there are no doors in here. The ceiling is very high Sir. There is much cleaning to be done." Harry smiled at the last comment. Since the elf now knew both sides, he popped back into Harry and Ginny's room.

"May I build a doorway, Headmistress?" Harry asked. She gave him permission.

"Allow me, Harry." Dumbledore started waving his wand and blocks started coming out in a line going up, then a thick board appeared. The same happened on the other side. Finally the top of the doorway was done. For the finishing touch, all the blocks left in the middle came down and stacked themselves in the new room, and then the blocks in the old room flew in and joined them.

"Thanks, Professor!" Harry lit his wand and walked through, the rest followed. It was indeed the bottom of the turret, about twenty feet in diameter and when all of them lit their wands, it appeared that the ceiling was two stories up.

"What would you do to this area Mr. Potter, besides remove all the dust?" McGonagall asked him as she tried not to sneeze.

"A door for the doorway obviously." That brought smiles to everyone. "Then I thought I'd have Dobby help me with the construction of a window, a ceiling, and add a fireplace or a stove. I'm assuming that with a magical stove pipe and Floo, we could vent it to the outside. Anything else, Ginny?" Harry asked.

Ginny had been very quiet the entire time. Harry searched for her feelings and found a glow of happiness. She moved over to him and gave him a tight hug. "Thank you Harry. I can live with you anywhere, but I truly appreciate you thinking of me." She gave him a kiss on the cheek.

When Ginny let him go, Harry looked up and saw his two professors smiling at him. "We'll let you get to work, but I do want to see what you've done when you finish." McGonagall told him before the professors left.

"Ginny, go get your books and things and go spend the day in the library. I'll meet you at dinner and then bring you to see our new and improved home."

"You think you can be done that fast, Harry?" She was shocked.

"I think so. I'm a wizard and I can use magic." She still gave him a questioning look. "And, Dobby's no slouch with magic either, so go on, off with you." She wasn't sure about him doing all this, but she did as she was told. After all, she did have a lot of homework.

When it was just the young man and the elf, Harry told Dobby. "All right, I want you to get Winky so she can start on the cleaning while you and I work on changing the room. Here's what we're going to do... "

* * *

As Ginny entered the Great Hall for dinner, she saw that Harry was not there yet, so she went to sit in her usual place near Ron and Hermione. Feeling for him, she felt satisfaction coming from her husband. That thought thrilled her, she loved being married to Harry. Searching for him directionally, he seemed to still be up in their room, so she assumed the project wasn't done yet.

"Where's Harry?" her brother asked.

"He's up in our room working on a project." She felt his direction changing, coming more down to the level of the Great Hall. "He should be here in a few minutes."

"What's he working on?" Ron grabbed some of the steak and kidney pie, heaping it onto his plate.

"Anything special, Ginny? I noticed Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore coming out of your room this morning, though I don't think I ever saw Harry come out," Hermione said.

"Well, he's trying to find us a little more privacy." Ginny hoped that was vague enough for now. She'd sensed Harry's reluctance to discuss the project.

"Oh, you mean like with the troll incident?" Hermione couldn't help but blush slightly as she said that, momentarily reliving the episode.

Ron looked like he wanted to have fun with Hermione again over that when Harry came in and sat down, putting his arm around his wife and giving her a quick hug for a greeting. "All right, my favorite. Did you request this for me?" he joked with her as he started dishing up the food, including some treacle tart for dessert.

She smiled at him again, enjoying his happiness. "Making good progress on your project?"

"You could say that," he told her. She raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm done actually."

"Already?" That shocked her and she started to wonder what he had done as she thought it would take a lot longer. In fact, she was starting to envision something very minimal and almost crude. She would just have to trust him.

As they were finishing dinner, Harry saw the Headmistress wave to him, so he went up to see her. "How's your project coming, Mr. Potter?"

"I'm done Professor." She looked shocked as well. "In fact, I was about to take Ginny on her grand tour. You're welcome to come as well, or you can come tomorrow afternoon, whichever is more convenient for you."

"Thank you Harry, I think I'd like to come now if you don't mind." He nodded acknowledgment and returned to Ginny.

A moment later, she, as well as Hermione and Ron were following Harry towards their room. As they reached the doors to leave the Great Hall, Harry saw that Professors McGonagall, Dumbledore, Cobb, and Flitwick were also coming. He supposed he shouldn't have been surprised his project would generate this much interest, but he was. He also decided that entire school body wasn't going to take a tour however.

As the troupe neared the Head Boy and Head Girl rooms, Colin Creevey came running up. "Harry! I need you to come to the Gryffindor Common Room. I was just told there's a fight up there."

Harry didn't break stride as he looked at the sixth year. "Collin, I'll tell you what I told Pansy Parkinson. You're a prefect, act like one. You're also a sixth year, so not much should be able to take you by surprise. That being said, if it's a couple of seventh years fighting and they turn you into a chimp, come find me, and then Hermione and I will come help, but you should be able to do all this yourself now."

Colin hung his head in shame a bit as he really did know that. He was just used to leaning on the older kids.

Ron addressed him next. "Colin, since we're almost at the Head rooms, why don't you come in and take the special passage to the Gryffindor tower; that will speed you up." There was always a special door for the Head Boy and Girl to get back to their House Common room quickly if needed. When Ron opened the door for Colin, everyone heard shouting, but that's all it sounded like, so Ron didn't bother to follow him.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, you both handled that well," the Headmistress told them. Ron grinned at the complement since McGonagall didn't hand out many, but Harry was watching Ginny who was reading the card attached to their door under a big red bow. He'd written:

_Ginny - While you deserve the whole castle, I hope this will make you happy while we are here. - Harry_

She turned to him and gave him a big hug after she'd silently read it. "I love you, Harry!" she fiercely whispered in his ear. "I'll live with you anywhere."

When she let him go, he told her so everyone else could hear, "It needs some decorations on the walls as they're a bit plain, but I'll let you do that. I'm sure you'd do it far better." That made her smile. Then he opened the door for her, and holding her hand he led her in.

Ginny saw a living room like it was out of a magazine. There was a nice fireplace with a small blaze in the far corner with a couch and low table in front of it with a vase of flowers, as well as a couple of very comfortable looking chairs. It looked wonderful for conversations. Where there were two windows on the outside wall, there were now four, and the curtains she'd picked out when they'd moved in were over them all. In addition to the small picture of them on their wedding day that was now on the mantel, there was a large still Muggle picture of them from their wedding on the wall; it showed them as they were about to come back down the aisle after having finished the ceremony. Finally in the area near the door, the old stove, desks, and wardrobes were gone and there stood two shelves which held various small curios, plus their Order of Merlins and other awards they'd been given.

"Harry, I don't know what to say, it's wonderful." Ginny was in awe.

Everyone else liked it too, but Hermione asked, "Harry, where are your desks? How are you going to study?"

He chuckled at that, _Leave it to Hermione to notice there were no desks_, he thought_._ "They must be in another room then, Hermione." Harry then led Ginny to the door across the room from them that was about five feet from the inside corner. The others slowly followed.

Harry opened the door for her and she saw a wall about five feet in front of her, which created a small alcove on the right that had a brass pole in the middle of it. "Don't touch the pole anyone, I'll explain that shortly." He pulled her to the left and into the room proper.

There, Ginny saw the round room was now very clean and had a normal ceiling. It too had four windows with her same pattern of curtains and a nice fireplace that was probably backed against the one in the living room. Over the fireplace was their framed marriage license. Their queen sized bed was here as were two very nice nightstands. In front of the fireplace was yet another couch. There were a couple of tapestries on the wall, but it was otherwise plain, awaiting a woman's touch obviously. Their two magical wardrobes were also there, as was a new full length mirror and a vanity dresser for Ginny.

Ginny moved the small distance to him and put her arm around his waist and pulled him in tight. "Thanks, Harry, this is so much more than I was expecting." She was beaming at him. Others were also offering their congratulations on a job well done.

"But Harry," Hermione spoke up again, "there are still no desks. You aren't planning to do all your studying in our common room, are you?"

Harry smiled at her, as he knew she'd sort of taken over the common room for a place for her and Ron to study together. "Oh ye of little faith, my sister-in-law to be," he said jokingly to her, which got a few chuckles from the professors and Ron too. "Come this way, everyone." He walked back to the little alcove by the door.

"Now, when the pole has a slight greenish glow like it does now, it is safe for you to walk up to it and grab on. If the pole has a slight redish glow, you should stand back as someone else is about to use the pole," he explained.

"What's it for?" his wife asked.

"Ah, I guess you'll just have to use it to find out. Grab on when it turns green again." That said, he stepped forward and grabbed the pole. It changed to a slight redish color for a second then Harry was propelled upward and appeared to go right through the ceiling. That caused several gasps. A couple of seconds later, the pole became green again.

After she stood there for a few seconds, Ron looked at Ginny. "What are you waiting for, that looks like fun!"

She had to agree, so she stepped forward, grabbed the pole, and a second later she had a sensation close to flying. It was so cool she forgot to be afraid of running into the ceiling. Suddenly, she was in another round room and Harry was standing there holding his hand out to pull her away from the pole. "Wow!"

"You like it?" he asked her and she nodded vigorously. Harry saw Ron come up as he turned away to show Ginny the room. It had two full sized desks instead of student sized desks, four more windows, another fireplace with a fur rug and a love seat in front of it, while the rest of the walls were lined with bookshelves and had a number of books already on them.

"This is incredible Harry." He turned to see Hermione nodding appreciatively at the setup as she complimented him. Ginny was silent but Harry could feel her wonder and love for him. He also noticed she seemed to be eying the fur rug near the fireplace which did have a very small fire in it.

When everyone was up in the library, as Harry called it, it was the Headmistress who spoke for them all. "I'm very impressed, Harry. I'm also quite amazed you could do all of this so quickly too."

"Thank you, Professor. I did have help from Dobby and Winky, and I had been thinking about this for a few days. Still, other than building the ceiling and floor, it was mostly a matter of getting furniture out of stores and bring it up that took the most amount of time."

"Harry," Professor Dumbledore spoke up. "How much of this is being held up with magic? Or how much of it would fail if a large enough _Finite Incantatem_ was done?"

"Oh, only the decorations sir," the Head Boy replied. "We used magic to levitate things into place and to otherwise speed the process up, like nailing all the nails quickly, but Dobby attached everything to the walls in the normal construction way. Even the pole would still work as far as leaving here, as it really is a brass pole that can be slid down. It's just that the glamours that hide the hole, the levitation charm that propels you up, and the proximity wards that cause it to glow the appropriate colors would fail. It's all structurally sound. I added the second floor because I just couldn't stand to see the space go to waste."

"Amazing!" Flitwick exclaimed. "I wondered how you'd done that. Simple and yet ingenious use of charms. Your mother would be proud of you."

Harry blushed a bit, then more as he felt Ginny start to run her hand up and down his side and back. Then he felt her twist a bit and mold herself to him and kiss him. "Thank you Harry, this really is incredible." He felt her pride in him and his work too.

"Thank you for the tour, Harry," Dumbledore told him. "I believe I'll go as I suspect you and Mrs. Potter would like to discuss the decorations." The twinkle in his eyes was very pronounced as he turned to go back down the pole.

As the rest started going out, Ginny turned to Harry and whispered, "After you let them out, I'll be waiting for you here." She let him go and went over to feel the softness of the Alpaca fur in front of the small fire. Seeing the look on her face and feeling her emotions, he barely tore himself away to see everyone out. When everyone was gone and the door was locked, he extinguished all the lights downstairs and hurriedly went back up to the library for the rest of the evening.

* * *

.


	29. Dreams

(A/N 2013: My apologies for the gap in posting. "The Great Email Outage" over the last couple of weeks hit me full force and I've only started receiving email from FF-net again in the last few days. I think I've responded to all PMs that were sent to me, but I'm still working my way thru the reviews. If you really want an answer to a question about the story and you've asked it since the posting of ch 27 and haven't seen a response yet, I'd suggest sending it to me again. Now that everything seems to be back to normal, I hope to back to posting 2 chapters a week again. Oh, if you don't remember ch 28, you might want to go back and read it first; it posted about the time the email outage started.)

Version: 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

**Chapter 29: Dreams**

By the second week in October, Ron was feeling pretty optimistic about their Quidditch team. The first game for the month was Ravenclaw versus Hufflepuff. Not knowing exactly how it was going to work out, the foursome cheered for both sides any time something happened. Of course, the most important thing they did was to scout the other teams.

Hufflepuff surprised Ravenclaw and fielded a better than expected team this year. They beat Ravenclaw 280-90. Harry was impressed with Hufflepuff's Seeker, whom he thought was a fourth year. The downside to this was Ron wanted to add a fourth practice during the week. The team rebelled and pointed out their game was next Saturday and it just was not possible to fit in a fourth practice into their schedule. The captain finally relented to such logic but worked them hard during their three normal practices.

The next Saturday was Gryffindor versus Slytherin. The entire Gryffindor team expected a physically rough game, but they wondered what it would be like without Malfoy there. Going out onto the field, Harry found himself up against the little third year named Miller he'd seen in the hall at the beginning of the year. Harry smiled at him and the Slytherin seemed to gulp. Knowing that he'd beat out older kids when he was younger, Harry didn't cut him any slack.

Crabbe and Goyle were being their usual bruiser selves as Beaters, but the rest of the team played fairly cleanly. There were only eight penalty shots before Harry saw the Golden Snitch. Miller was looking the wrong way, so Harry slowly flew over to near the Gryffindor goals where the Snitch was hovering and grabbed it before the boy even realized what was happening. Gryffindor won 360-50, which included twelve goals by Ginny. It looked like Gryffindor and Hufflepuff were the teams to beat this year.

* * *

The next day, when Harry and Ginny came out of their room to go to breakfast, it was to find Neville, Ron, and Hermione waiting for them in the Head common room. The couple looked at each other and smiled about their eager friends. In the Great Hall, they found they were the first ones there; they assumed a bit too much partying had gone on the night before.

Neville had a number of pots and even a full-sized barrel shrunk in his pocket. Harry had brought two poles with him to breakfast, one purple and one hot pink. Dumbledore had given them to him when their task came to the teacher's attention. He pointed out that Portkeys were the easiest way to get a number of people to a place for the first time, as well as to bring a large plant back.

After breakfast, they walked outside so as not to bring attention to themselves and when everyone grabbed onto the "purple for Potter" stick, Harry activated it. Everyone arrived safely in the street in front of the Potter home, though Neville did scrape a hand when he fell. Pulling out a scrap of paper, Harry wrote the secret on it and showed it to his friends. Ron and Hermione already knew what to do, while he had to coax Neville along. Soon all three of them were amazed as they looked at the house.

Apparently, Dobby had done a little more work outside since the last time the Potters had been there; the walkway to the house was a little wider and the front door had been painted. Neville could hardly wait to take a look around the grounds, so the owners took their friends on a tour.

While Neville identified several other magical plants that had gone wild, he was in awe at the giant Cat's Paw vine that Harry had told him about. In fact, he was so amazed he didn't watch where he was standing and the giant vine scratched him pretty badly before he got away. Ginny cast several healing spells that Healer Davies had shown them on Neville to help him out.

"That's incredible, Harry," Neville told them reverently. "You know the reason people want these is to keep the rodent and other vermin under control, but this one is so big, it would probably eat rabbits, squirrels, opossums, and even a real cat if they got close enough."

"Are you saying it took a swipe at you because it thought you were food?" Ron was also amazed at the plant.

"Probably," Neville said. "It could feel the vibrations of my walking and doesn't really know how big I am, so I just seem like a large meal to it. We're going to need lots of milk to tame this one."

"No problem," Harry told him. "I've just the spell to do that. Let's look around and then we'll come back and tame this thing last so we can go right back to school with it."

Neville nodded. "That's probably best. What's in the back, Harry?" So they went that way too. Once they had seen the outer grounds, they went inside where they found the house-elves had refreshments waiting for them. Each took a cup of a juice and they toured the inside.

Ginny found that the kitchen was now totally clean and serviceable. The Potters also saw that the master bedroom was clean, but the closets and bathroom still needed some work. They also found that the elves had boxed up various items they had found in what was once Harry's parents' bedroom. That made Harry remember about the chests he'd retrieved from his vaults that he had yet to go through.

The dining room was clean now and for the first time, Harry and Ginny saw pictures of couples on the wall that they hadn't noticed before. They were paintings, but they still moved and talked like the paintings at school. It didn't take long for them to find out they were Harry's ancestors. Unfortunately, the newest addition was one of his grandparents. While that thrilled him as he planned to talk to them later, he was quite disappointed not to find his parents there.

Walking into the library, they found it had not been touched at all, dust was still everywhere. When questioned, the elves said they hadn't cleaned anything up the stairs yet either. So Harry just described it as a bunch of bedrooms and they didn't bother going.

As they had some time before lunch, Ginny suggested that everyone pull out their wand and start cleaning the library, with five people it shouldn't take long. Sure enough, by lunchtime, the room was mostly free of dust and dirt. While the others went to find lunch, Hermione stayed behind for a few extra minutes to see what was on the shelves.

After lunch, in which the two elves joined them, the four males went back outside and continued removing the overgrowth. The three females went back into the library to finish it off before they worked on the master bathroom.

When they'd finished the other two sides of the house, Harry saw they had a little over an hour left, so he directed them to the Cat's Paw. Neville expanded all the containers while Harry called the girls out so they'd have enough help.

Harry showed everyone the spell to create milk, which was similar to the _Aguamenti_ spell. They tested it by shooting some milk at a little Cat's Paw and Neville easily transplanted the small vine to a small container.

That done, everyone looked to Neville for what to do and he realized he was now in charge, much to his chagrin. "All right, here's what we're going to do. First let's fill this barrel half full of milk." Everyone did the spell and worked on that while he finished his explanation. "Then we'll all stream milk onto the ground at the base of the plant. It will be tricky at first, but once we get going, it will quiet down a bit and allow us to get closer. After we saturate the ground, Harry, Ron, and I will have to wade through the milky mud and pull it out and put it into the barrel before it gets violent. Once in there, we'll need to fill the barrel with dirt and then quickly Portkey back to school. Questions?"

"Do we need shovels?" Harry asked.

"Either that or we levitate the dirt into the barrel."

"Why not just levitate the plant into the barrel too?" Harry didn't really want to touch the giant plant.

"We could do that, but it would take all of us, and it's quite possible one or more of us would slip or something and drop it, which would make the plant become very violent. We really don't want to do that, guys." Neville was very serious.

Harry thought about that and looked at Ginny. It was obvious they had thought of the same thing. "_How about you casually touch me while I use a 'new' levitation spell?_" Harry thought to her, letting her pick that up with Legilimency.

"_How are you going to explain that? You know Hermione will want to learn it._" Ginny raised an eyebrow at him as she thought back. He shrugged.

Harry decided to go for it. "Uh, Neville, I've been working on a new levitation spell with Dumbledore. I think I could levitate it all by myself to make it safer for everyone."

"That would be for the best if you could do that," the future botanist told him.

"Can you teach us too?" Hermione asked the expected question, and Harry could feel Ginny having to work hard to hold her laughter in, as well as an _I told you so._

He temporized with, "I'm not sure. It's something Dumbledore and I made up so it's not really ready for public use yet." Hermione deflated a bit but she nodded her understanding.

"All right," Neville gathered his nerves and his troops, "let me remove a little dirt first." He levitated some dirt away from around the plant and put it next to the barrel. The plant wasn't happy about that and shook a little, but it wasn't enough to make it violent either. "Now, everyone start giving the plant some milk." Five wands started shooting milk at the plant. Soon, it started drooping and everyone moved a bit closer.

Neville had them do that for about five minutes before he called a halt. Turning to Harry, he said, "Your turn. Try to get as much of the dirt or mud around the roots as you can."

Ginny had already come over to stand to the left of Harry. He looked at her and told her, "Ginny, will you help guide me?"

"Sure, Harry." She lightly grabbed his left arm with her hand as if she wanted merely to stay close to talk to him. They both felt the tingle. Throwing some extra useless wand movements in, he silently did a _Wingardium_ _Leviosa!_ and watched their combined power slowly lift the great plant up. He was actually amazed the plant hadn't gone flying like a bullet, but then it was much much bigger and heavier than the rocks and pillows he normally worked with. The plant was starting to move as he slowly put it down into the barrel, with a few "pointers" from Ginny. When the roots found the new source of milk, it became docile again. The other four quickly put dirt and mud into the barrel to stabilize the plant, and Neville shot a few ropes out of his wand to tie it in and to help finish the matter.

"Dobby, I need the Portkey." The elf brought the "hot pink for Hogwarts" stick. Harry laid it across the top of the barrel. "Quickly, everyone grab the stick and the barrel." When they did, Harry activated the Portkey and off they went. No one fell as they were all holding onto the barrel.

They landed in front of Greenhouse number five with Professor Sprout on hand to greet them. To say that the teacher was surprised was an understatement. She stood there amazed for a few moments just looking at the monster-sized plant until it twitched. "All right everyone, we've got to move quickly. This plant can stay outside, so let's move it over there." She pointed to a place not far away, but where the plant couldn't get into trouble. "Now, let's all grab the barrel and move it before it wakes up."

"Professor Sprout, perhaps it would be best if I moved it," Harry told her.

"It's too heavy for you to do by yourself, Mr. Potter ..."

"But Professor, I'm the one who levitated it into the barrel," he told her.

The professor's eyes nearly popped out at that. "Well, I ah, hmm. Give me a moment then, Mr. Potter and let me get a hole ready." Pulling out her wand, she quickly dug a hole in the ground and then stood back. "Just put the whole thing including the barrel into the hole, I'll take it from there."

"Yes, Professor. Ginny, would you help guide me again?" Harry smiled at her for their ruse. She just smiled back. He again went through the fake spell and did a simple levitation charm on it. Once it was in the hole, Professor Sprout Vanished the barrel then filled in the hole with the extra dirt.

"Very good, everyone. Now, Mr. Longbottom, weren't you supposed to have another small one?" Sprout looked expectantly at her star student.

"Oh, I forgot," he said sheepishly.

Harry smiled. "Dobby? I need your help."

The elf popped in, holding the small potted vine. "Harry Sir. Your friend left his plant behind."

Everyone smiled. "Thank you Dobby, that's just what I was going to ask you for. Excellent work as usual." The elf grinned hugely and looked bashful. "Have a good evening Dobby and no more work for today, relax with Winky."

"Yes, Harry Sir." The elf popped out. Everyone seemed pleased and they all left to get dinner.

* * *

The last Saturday in October, Harry was upstairs in the library in his Hogwarts apartment, as he thought of it, studying. He thought he finally and fully understood the spell diagrammed in his special project notebook in front of him. It had taken him a full month of part-time work to determine that it was really a combination of three spells. It was incredibly ingenious; he had to hand it to Dumbledore.

Working this out gave him that much more appreciation for the shield work he was doing with Cobb, which was going very slowly. Still, he felt like he was starting to understand spell creation so much more as he actually did it. He also owed a great deal to Flitwick and his mentoring, though Harry couldn't tell him about this secret project of his. He really wanted it done by Christmas to surprise Ginny.

The more he looked at the spell, the more he felt like he really only needed to deal with two of the three parts in order to defeat it. Perhaps a blinding charm combined with a shield spell would do it. He thought about that for a bit, as he also thought about how hard, and potentially painful, it could be to test this.

As he thought about it some more, he heard Ginny come up the pole behind him. "Hey Harry, ready to go to Hogsmeade? Ron and Hermione are ready and waiting for us."

He closed his project book and put it back into his desk. "Sure, let's go."

"Your special project again?" she asked coyly, trying to worm more information out of him.

"Uh huh," he acknowledged as her hands wrapped themselves around him for a hug, which he willingly returned. After a short kiss, he told her, "Sorry luv, you'll just have to wait, though I'm sure you'll like it when I'm done."

Ginny sighed. "You tease me on purpose by not telling me, don't you?"

"What? Me tease you?" He tried to look surprised.

"Yes, you. Oh well, come on, other fun awaits." She dragged him out of their apartment to where their friends were waiting.

They walked to Hogsmeade and had a good time looking at the shops and buying the occasional item. Honeydukes definitely took up some time because they not only bought for themselves, but they bought extra for the first and second year Gryffindors that couldn't come, as well as for the party they were having that night for the fifth year prefects.

Spying the bookshop, Harry suggested they go in there for a bit. Hermione quickly seconded the idea. Ron looked at him like Harry had lost his mind, while Ginny didn't seem to care as long as she got to hold onto Harry's arm and be escorted around. She was enjoying spending the time away from school with her husband.

Inside the shop, the couples split up. Hermione and Ron went over to the Transfiguration section while Harry and Ginny went over to the Charms section. After a half hour or so, Hermione and Ron came over to where the Potters were so she could see what Harry was looking at. Ginny handed her one of the books she was holding for Harry.

As Hermione perused through the book, Harry could see her become more and more excited. Finally, she closed the book and held it while she closed her eyes. Harry had seen that look before; it was one she usually had when thinking a plan through in great detail. He let her think while he looked through the last section for any other books he wanted. Ron seemed to be looking at the books on the shelf behind them which dealt with various sports.

"Harry?" Hermione's voice was soft. "How does one set up learning lessons by Pensieve?"

He pulled two more books off the shelf that looked promising; he wanted to look at the Table of Contents in them. "Obviously you need a Pensieve." He made a face to show he was teasing her. She gave him an exasperated look and was about to say something when he tried to really answer the question. "Dumbledore gets the lessons from someplace, he's never told me from where. Apparently, the standard school lessons are restricted and can only be sold to schools. On the other hand, if you want something normal like Latin lessons, those could be bought by anyone. I don't know all the lessons that they offer, I haven't seen a catalog." She still looked thoughtful and Harry noticed Ron had stopped looking at his book and was paying attention to the conversation now.

"Do you know what they cost?"

"All the lessons I've had to buy for Ginny so far this year have been one thousand Galleons per class per year." Hermione looked surprised at Harry's statement, and Ron raised both eyebrows. "I don't know what Dumbledore paid for all the lessons last year, but I assume they were the same price."

"At current exchange rates, that's like what? A little more than five thousand pounds?" she asked.

Harry shrugged. "Not sure but probably something like that. Gringotts does it all for me automatically so I don't really know. I take it you're thinking about asking if you can do that?"

Hermione lost her thoughtful look as she told him, "Yes, I think I could talk my parents into paying for a couple so I could take advanced Transfiguration and Charms like you two are doing. I don't know if I would ever have another chance like this again."

Though Harry had forgotten about him, Ron now spoke up. "You'd leave me behind in those two classes just so you could study with Harry?"

"No, Ron," Hermione tried to explain, "it's not like that, I ..."

"Fine, I understand." Ron wasn't listening to Hermione anymore.

Harry started to try to help them when Ginny caught his attention. Looking at her, he caught her thoughts with Legilimency, "_No, don't say anything, they need to work this out. Yes, we could help them out by paying for it, and I wouldn't mind doing that, but not unless they ask._"

He thought about that for a second before he sent back to her, "_When did you get to be so smart?_" She just smiled at him and puckered up to silently blow him a kiss.

Ron noticed that and fixed his sister with an irritated stare. "Can't you two leave each other alone for at least five minutes?"

"Can't I flirt with my husband?" she replied with a bit of heat in her voice for his snapping at her.

Ron rolled his eyes and muttered, "Whatever" to everyone and walked out of the bookshop. Thrusting her books at Ginny, Hermione chased after him.

"I guess things aren't going so smoothly for those two?" Harry inquired.

Ginny shrugged, "I hadn't heard anything had changed. It might just be Ron's pride about money, as he knows he couldn't afford to take those classes too. Still, this is their problem to work through." Harry nodded. "You going to take those too?" she pointed to the two books in his hands.

He looked down at them. He wasn't sure, but then again, it wasn't a big deal money-wise. "Sure. Maybe we should get Hermione's and she can pay us back later? I thought she wanted those."

"Yeah, she'd probably appreciate that." Ginny handed him all the books she was holding for him and for Hermione. Harry paid for them all, then shrunk them down to put them in his robes.

When they left the bookshop, their two friends were nowhere in sight. "I need to get some more Butterbeer for the party tonight. Let's go to the Three Broomsticks, I've already sent an owl to Madam Rosmerta so she'd set some aside for me." Ginny grabbed his hand and they walked to the pub.

They found no sign of Ron and Hermione inside either. Harry picked up six cases of Butterbeer, four for the party and two extra just because. Those were also shrunk down and stowed away. Thinking this was a good place to wait, they had a leisurely lunch. When they were done and their friends were still nowhere in sight, they decided to walk on back to the castle. Harry figured they could go ahead and prepare for the party. Though the changing trees were pretty, neither noticed them as they each wondered what Ron was really thinking and how it would work out.

— — —

The party for sixth-year prefects had been three Saturdays earlier and Harry had thought it had gone pretty well. The two Slytherin prefects had been cautious of him at the beginning, but had seemed to warm up to him as the night wore on. Harry had also pulled the Gryffindor prefects into his plan and had them be friendly, hopefully without being too obvious, to the Slytherins. All in all, Harry and Hermione were pretty happy about it.

The fifth year's party tonight would be the last one for a while. Harry thought about having another round next term, but he hadn't decided yet. There were other plans already in the air, so he wasn't sure if he really needed to do that.

Again, Harry conspired with the Gryffindor prefects and again the Slytherins responded positively. When he consulted with her privately during the party, Hermione agreed with him that these parties were a good plan and that it should become a tradition for the Head Boy and Girl.

The evening ended around half past eleven and a surprise presented itself to Harry and Ginny. Because Ron was his best mate and Hermione's fiancé, and Ginny was his wife, they were invited to the parties for the sixth and fifth years too, even though they were in the seventh year. No one seemed to mind and for Harry it was two more people to help his plans for reaching out to all the houses. As the prefects began leaving, Ron left with the Gryffindor prefects through the portal back to the Gryffindor tower. Normally he stayed around to be with Hermione and help clean up. Harry and Ginny had also noticed that Ron had spent hardly any time with Hermione during the evening, not as he normally would have.

The Potters watched as Hermione stared at the portal even after the door was closed. When the last of the prefects had left, she was still standing there and staring. Harry looked to Ginny who jerked her head in Hermione's direction. She took one of Hermione's arms and Harry grabbed the other; they led her to the couch and all three squeezed onto it.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" Ginny gently queried.

The brunette couldn't take it anymore and burst into tears. Her friends let her cry for a bit. "He's so angry at me, he wouldn't even talk to me the whole way back to Hogwarts. He practically ran back to the castle and went straight to his dorm room until he came down for the party."

Harry had noticed neither of them was at dinner, but they all skipped from time to time, and the fact that both of them were gone didn't seem all that odd as they could have been somewhere together.

"You know Ron can get into one of his down moods from time to time, you just need to hang on a little bit and let him work through whatever is bothering him," Ginny tried to encourage her friend.

"I don't know that he will get over it." She sniffled before continuing. "He thinks I don't want him around anymore."

"What?! That's stupid." Harry was surprised to hear her say that. "Anyone can see that you still care for him."

"But he said I don't want to take classes with him anymore, and that I'm too good for him." She sobbed a little bit more now.

Harry looked behind his friend to his wife with a "What?" look. She saw him lean back and thought to him, "_Ron must think she wants to drop her two classes with him and be with us._"

"Hermione, does Ron think you want to leave your two classes with him to be with us?" Harry asked.

She nodded. "I tried to tell him I would stay with him, but he wouldn't listen."

"Did you really mean that you'd drop your Arithmancy and Runes classes and take those via Pensieve to have more time for the extras?" Ginny asked.

"Of course," Hermione said in her most forceful tone since they'd sat down together. "That's obviously the best way as they are academic only."

"I see," Harry said and nodded as he thought about that. "Somehow I don't think Ron took it all quite that way."

The Head Girl sighed. "I think you're right. I tried to explain it to him, but he just wouldn't listen. He's so stubborn sometimes."

"As one of Dudley's old movies said, _What we have here is a failure to communicate_."

Hermione looked at Harry for a moment, then she actually started to laugh. "Thanks, Harry," she told him, "I really needed that. Of course, what I also need is a way to make him understand what I really meant, and that I want a family with him."

Ginny decided there was something else that needed to be said. "That would help Hermione, but you do realize there is another issue involved, or maybe two working against you."

The brunette looked shocked, then like she wanted to cry again. "W-What?" she finally got out, not really wanting to hear any more bad news.

"The obvious thing is that if you work all this out, which includes getting permission which may not be a given, then Ron will be the only one not taking special classes," the redheaded girl told her. "And that's going to make him feel ..." she paused to let Hermione fill in the blank.

"Left out." She hung her head. "I should have thought of that. I know that really bothers him."

"There is one other potential problem that may be aggravating all this." Hermione looked at her hopeful sister-in-law. "It's just a Weasley thing, but when you acted like coming up with a couple of thousand Galleons was no big deal, that hurt the Weasley pride." Hermione deflated a bit upon hearing that. "Even I'm somewhat affected by this, though I consider myself to be one of the least bothered by it among the seven of us. Ron already knows Harry doesn't have money problems, and I don't either now that we're married. Now you say you can pay for these extra classes, but he knows he can't. Truth is, any one of these problems probably isn't that bad, but you've got three of them all at the same time. That's hard on him, though the stupid prat needs to grow up, get over it all, and realize he's got the best thing in the world in you."

That last part brought a smile to Hermione's face. "So how to get him to grow up is the question." She sighed as she didn't have a clue.

"I say we lock both of you into a room until he acknowledges the problems and that he's wrong," Ginny suggested, "but you probably don't want to miss that many days of classes." The troubled girl smiled again.

"Now, Ginny," her husband gently chastised her. "Seriously, I think you first need to decide if you really want to do those classes. I'm sure they would be helpful to you if you did work in the Department of Mysteries. Assuming you do, I'd talk to McGonagall and Flitwick to make sure you can, because if you can't, nothing else matters."

Hermione nodded. "That makes sense."

"Second, I'd contact your parents about the money part, because if they say no, then all this is pointless." Hermione agreed.

"Lastly," Harry said, "if all that goes well, then you'll have to deal with Ron and get him to understand that you're not abandoning him in his classes, and that this is an opportunity you can't pass up for your career, which I know is important to you. And while I'm not trying to be mean, realistically, if he can't respect your dreams, what does that really mean for the two of you?"

The brunette looked alarmed about that last part.

"Harry, couldn't you have been a little more diplomatic?" his wife asked him.

"Uh, no, well maybe. But no matter how you say it, that's the way it is." Harry realized he couldn't leave it there. "Hermione, I really want to see you two together, but Ginny's right in that you both have to be happy with where you're going as a couple. Ginny and I probably have some different opportunities not available to you and Ron, but what's so great for us is that we're both so flexible. To be honest, I still don't fully know what I want to do, but I do know that as long as Ginny is there, I'll be happy."

"I want to be like that too, but I also have dreams, Harry."

"I understand, Hermione," he told her, "but you and Ron are just going to have to work this out." The upset girl just nodded and left to go to her room.

The Potters wearily got up and went to their room. As they crawled into bed, Harry reached over and grabbed Ginny and pulled her to him. Holding her tightly as if he didn't want to lose her, he told her, "I love you Ginny, I love you so much." Ginny held him tightly as well and pushed her feelings of love back at him.

* * *

The next few days were strained for the foursome. The Potters plus Ron worked, the Potters plus Hermione worked, the four of them together didn't.

By Friday afternoon when this had been going on for nearly six days, Harry couldn't take it anymore. At three o'clock when Harry knew Ron's last class for the day ended, he told Ginny, "I need to borrow your broom." She could tell he was in one of those moods where it was best to agree with him for anything easy, so she just pointed to it in the corner next to his. He grabbed them both and left. She had an idea what he was going to do, and she hoped that not only would it work, but that she still had a working broom when he was done. She opened the window a crack and felt the cool air come in while she stood there watching the grounds towards the Quidditch pitch, which she could barely see out to the side.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, she could see Harry and Ron walking that way. She sighed and went back to her homework. She had only a couple of more weeks of Pensieve lessons and homework left, and she couldn't wait to get that over with.

Harry walked through the portal to Gryffindor tower, he waved at a few people with his free hand. Not seeing Ron in the common room, he headed up the stairs to the dorm room for the seventh year boys. Fortunately, Ron was there and he didn't have to search the castle for him.

"Hey Ron, let's go flying. I've even brought Ginny's Firebolt for you to borrow." Harry held it out.

That got Ron's attention. He grabbed it, though that action caused him to look at Harry very thoughtfully. "Why?"

"Because we haven't spent any time together, just you and me, since summer. I don't know about you, but I've missed that."

Ron gave him a wary look but he started walking with this friend. "Just us two?"

"Yeah, just us two." They walked in silence to the front doors. Once outside, Harry took a deep breath of cool barely October air. The Halloween feast was tonight. "Ah, I needed this. How about you?"

"Maybe." Ron seemed to be pretty non-committal about everything.

"Close enough," Harry said as they neared the Quidditch pitch, "come on." He got on his broom and took off. Ron followed suit and gave chase. An hour later, two laughing boys landed in the Gryffindor stands.

"That was funny," Ron told his best mate. "I thought you, the great Seeker, were going to fall off your broom."

"Yeah, but I didn't," Harry smirked. "That's all that really counts, at least as long as Ginny didn't see it. I gotta maintain the image there." Ron chortled at that. Harry still wasn't sure how to go about this, but he had to do something. "So, have you figured out what you want to do after you graduate?"

"Maybe." Ron turned a bit more serious. "I'd like to play professional Quidditch and I think I may have a shot at it if we play well our last two games. I've been doing some research about all the teams and I'm guessing four teams will need to recruit a Keeper."

"Interesting, I thought they recruited from all over Europe though."

"They do, but about half of the players come from the U.K., or so my research shows," Ron told him.

Harry thought about that for a moment. "Did you uncover anything about the need for Seekers next year? That's one of my thoughts."

Ron harrumphed. "Harry, you can get onto about any team you want just because of who you are, surely you know that." His friend gave him a questioning look. "Come on Harry, any team would like to have The-Boy-Who-Conquered just for publicity if nothing else."

That made Harry a little angry. "I don't want that and you know it."

"Hey mate, calm down; I know that, but that's just the way it is."

Taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down, Harry almost laughed at the irony of the situation. Ron was having to calm him down when the purpose of this talk was for Harry to get Ron to calm down about Hermione.

When Ron saw a friendlier face on his best mate, he went on. "Anyway, yes, I'm guessing there will be the need for about five to seven Seekers. It's a rough position and it takes its toll on the players faster than most positions at the professional level."

"Any on the same teams? That would be fun." Harry grinned at the thought.

His friend grinned back. "Yeah it would be, and yes, there are a couple of teams that should need both."

"Cool," Harry told him as he thought that through. Then he realized he needed to get on with it. "So it sounds like you're really leaning that way."

'Yeah, I think so. Maybe I'll go for coach too after my career. I can't play forever, you know."

Harry nodded his acknowledgment. "Well then, if you're pretty happy with that, are you also OK with Hermione working in the Department of Mysteries?" Ron's face clouded and he moved as if he was going to get up, but Harry put his hand on his friend's shoulder to stop him. "Come on Ron, I care about both of you and want you both to be happy."

"Yeah, that's fine for her," he snapped.

"Ron, you do realize that she would still have all the same classes with you next term as she does right now, don't you? She'll still be sitting in seventh year Transfiguration and Charms, right next to you." Harry watched an interesting set of expressions cross his friend's face.

"She will? But I thought that, uh ..."

"No Ron, she'd stop taking Arithmancy and Runes, and use those time slots for her extra classes." Ron started to become worked up again so Harry tried to nip it in the bud, "This really is a once in a lifetime opportunity for someone who wants to be a researcher. It's her dream, Ron, just like you have a dream too, and those dreams can work together."

The redhead sat there for a minute taking it all in. "I don't know, Harry," he finally said. "How can she have a big career like that and still have a family?"

"Ron, women do it all the time in the Muggle world. It's my understanding they have to take a few years off the job while the kids are young, or else work at home, but it can be done. In fact it should be even easier in the magical world, especially if you have a house-elf or two to help out. But you're missing the most important part, Ron: she wants to be with you, she told me so." Ron shot him an intense look. "And while she didn't quite say it, she implied she wanted kids for a family with you too. Let me tell you, with a wife who loves you, you can take on the world."

"I guess you'd know," Ron muttered.

"Damn straight! OK, she wasn't my wife at the time, but we were engaged. With Ginny beside me, I knew we could beat Voldemort, and we did. Now, I feel we can do wonderful things, no matter what ugly stuff the world throws at us, even if it's thirty foot monster vines that try to eat me."

Ron now started to chuckle. "OK, I get the point." He sat there thinking some more. "You know, I guess I can live with her taking the classes because she is really good at that stuff and I know she likes challenges, I mean, look at me, I'm a real challenge." Harry chuckled at that. "But I don't know how to deal with it being the three of you together there without me."

Finally, it was coming out, Harry thought. He'd only had one idea how to deal with this and he hoped it worked. "Ron, just because you're not in the class doesn't mean you're left out. We can teach you all the stuff anyway, and it would probably be good for Hermione too, you know how she likes to help us with our homework no matter that she complains at the same time."

Ron nodded about the truth in that. "I guess that wouldn't be too bad."

"I think you should ask her about it. In fact, I think you need to ask her about a lot of things, figure out some details in your and her future together. I'm sure she'd like that you know," Harry told him.

"Yeah, she may already have the next twenty years planned out for all I know."

Harry laughed. "Yeah, she might, but then again, you might also find out that she doesn't because she doesn't know what you want yet. Go talk to her, OK?"

"I will, and thanks mate."

"No problem. Let's fly up to the door and you can go find her."

Ron handed Ginny's broom back to Harry after they landed at the main entrance. "Thanks. One day I'll have a broom just like that."

"I doubt it, Ron." Ron gave him a puzzled look. "One day you'll have a better one." A smile crossed Ron's face as he thought about that. "I'd look in the library first if I were you," Harry told him. Ron just continued to smile as he walked off.

Back in his apartment, a much happier Harry than a couple of hours ago found Ginny still doing her homework. She looked up at him and smiled, "Not only am I glad to see you happy again, which means you must have talk some sense back into Ron, I'm glad to see my broom still in one piece." Harry laughed at that. She got up from the desk and pulled him over to the couch. Pushing him down so she could sit on his lap, she then commanded, "So tell me all about it before we go to dinner."

To the Potter's surprise, Ron and Hermione weren't at the feast. They were found the next morning sitting on the couch in the Head common room. When they noticed the Potters come out of their room, Harry saw Hermione whisper in Ron's ear then get up and come over to them.

Hermione walked over and looked at Ginny for a moment and said, "Excuse me, Ginny, I need to borrow Harry for just a second." Ginny wasn't sure what was going on and only shrugged. Taking that for an OK, Hermione stepped up to Harry and gave him a fierce hug, which he only mostly returned because of his surprise. "Thank you Harry," she whispered to him. "Thank you for getting him to talk to me. If you ever don't know what to do, I think you should also consider being a marriage counselor." She finally let go and walked back to Ron on the couch and held out her hand. "Maybe we should go to breakfast too." Ron grinned and got up to follow her. They had a foursome again.

* * *

.


	30. A Happy Christmas

Version: 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

**Chapter 30: A Happy Christmas**

Mid-November brought more changes to the Potters. Ginny finished the last of her Pensieve lessons and needed to finish a handful of essays to complete those classes. Her independent study classes also shifted from learning to revising for her four upcoming NEWTs: Charms, Transfiguration, Arithmancy, and Runes. To Harry's annoyance, she started sequestering herself upstairs in their private library more often, but he did understand why and knew it was only for the next month. He used that time to work on his special project, which was nearing completion, or so he thought.

To help her relax, he scheduled a visit to their home just before she began her intense revision. McGonagall made it very clear that the next trip they would have would not be until the Christmas break.

Not surprisingly, since there was so much progress during their October trip, they found not only was Harry's original goal complete, and the house was basically habitable, but the entire first floor was likewise clean. Harry took the morning to clean the garage, since there wasn't much to do there. He did not know why there was a garage, perhaps it was to hold horse-drawn carriages he imagined. The cottage guesthouse was ignored as they didn't expect to have any long-term guests any time soon. The afternoon was spent working on the second floor, though Ginny did take a few minutes to reexamine the attic in more detail.

The attic was a large area and mostly used for storage. It was the sort of place that would make a great dance studio, if she were into that. If she ever wanted a hobby room, it would probably go up here. There were a number of things stored there, most of them from previous generations, especially clothes that Ginny found funny looking. However, in a corner, she did find a surprise that had been overlooked on their initial tour. Inspiration hit her and she quickly shrunk it down, wrapped it in a handkerchief, and stuck in her pocket before Harry could come up.

By the time they were done for the day, they had one guest room downstairs and one upstairs available, though the one downstairs would become a child's room when their first came along. There were a few more boxes of things to take back with them to look through. Both Harry and Ginny mentally made plans to do that soon. All in all, the couple was very happy with the progress and looked forward to their first night there when the term ended on the 19th of December.

* * *

The first week in December brought the staff meeting Harry and Hermione had to attend every month. This one was a little different in that they went a few minutes early to talk with the Headmistress, and for some reason, Dumbledore was there too. With Harry for moral support, Hermione launched into her request for the meeting. "Professor McGonagall, I'd like to take two independent study classes, one for Transfiguration and one for Charms. If possible, I'd like to use my Arithmancy and Runes time slots for those, and then finish those two classes via Pensive lessons. I believe I can talk my parents into paying for them."

The Headmistress smiled. "I don't see why not. I can find a few hours to squeeze you in, and I suspect Filius can too."

Not that he was really bothered by it, but Harry had always suspected Hermione was McGonagall's favorite student. The teacher's reaction seemed to confirm it for him as had her ready agreement to the change, with what seemed like hardly a thought. Of course, a moment's contemplation made Harry also consider that maybe McGonagall had already thought about this was had been merely waiting for Hermione to ask for it.

Ever since Hermione had asked him about the independent study classes in the bookshop, he had been thinking the whole thing through. Given his audience, he thought this might be a good time to ask about one of his thoughts. "Professor McGonagall, I know that these independent study classes have been very useful to me because of my special task which I was forced to complete last June, but I've also enjoyed them immensely this year too. I was wondering why the school didn't take steps to identify students who excelled in various areas and offer them the ability to do this? For example, Neville would have greatly benefited from an accelerated learning schedule in Herbology so he could have done extra studies with it this year. He could have taken something like History of Magic via Pensieve lessons to free up a time block to do the extra class, since he already has a full schedule."

The Headmistress looked at Dumbledore for a moment with an expression that looked to Harry as if she was thinking, "Why didn't I think of that?" Dumbledore gave one of his classic smiles with a twinkle in his eye as he commented, "I think I see an extra assignment in Mr. Potter's future."

A small smile came to McGonagall's lips. "Yes, I was just thinking the same thing. Mr. Potter, I'd like you to develop that idea. When you write it up, please try to think like a teacher and discuss all the various aspects of the problem, implementation ideas, and solutions to problems that might arise. I think Ms. Granger should proof-read it for you and help you refine it. I'll add my comments to the bottom of it before I present it to the Board of Governors to consider for next year and beyond."

Harry was shocked that his little idea had taken off like that. Somehow, he managed to stammer out a, "Y-Yes Professor."

"I'll even give you a little extra help in a few minutes," she added in a look that seemed to border on mischief, Harry thought.

Shortly, the rest of the teachers came into the staff room, and McGonagall began the meeting. "I have one extra topic to discuss today that I would like everyone's input on. Mr. Potter has brought an excellent idea to my attention. While I've asked him to write a paper on it, I'd like ideas from everyone here to help him in preparing it." She then explained Harry's advanced studies idea. He got a number of surprised looks and a few very respectful ones as well. They had an intense ten-minute discussion on the topic. Flitwick was the most excited and Harry could tell they would be discussing this in his next class with the diminutive teacher.

After the meeting, Hermione brought up the topic again as they walked back to the rooms. "You've been thinking about these independent study classes quite a bit, haven't you, Harry?"

"Sort of, though mostly during idle moments here or there. It was really your doing even if you didn't know it," he confessed.

"Me?"

"Yes, you." He smiled at her. "After you asked me about them in the bookshop, I got to wondering about the idea in general and why the school doesn't do them for others. Neville was just the first obvious choice, after you, of course. There is a real advantage to the school as well," he added.

"Oh, like what?"

"Well, as we discussed back there, the teachers will be the ones to choose students who are gifted in an area. If you think about it, those same students are also the ones who are more likely to become teachers and even Headmasters one day. It would help to find them sooner rather than have to guess who the good ones are," he explained.

"Wow, Harry! You've really been giving this a lot of thought. It's almost like you're thinking like a Headmaster," she complimented him.

"Yeah, well, there's a reason for that, actually." She raised a curious eyebrow at him. "Remember that long-term planning idea you gave me two summers ago on the porch swing when you told me I was a good teacher?" She nodded. "This last summer McGonagall and Dumbledore both presented me with essentially the same idea, except to them it's was more like it was the obvious thing to do and I should think so too."

The Head Girl chuckled. "They were just trying to recruit you Harry."

"Yeah, and I'm almost sure it was Dumbledore's idea to begin with so I sort of count both of their offers as one, but to have them, and then you, propose the same thing is, oh I don't know, sort of weird." He wasn't sure how else to explain it.

"Well, I'm not surprised, Harry; you would be a good teacher here, and I do think you could be a good Headmaster too. After all, who else could keep all the troublemakers here in line better than you?" He sort of shrugged as he considered it. She turned thoughtful again, "Of course, by having you write the paper to be presented to the Board, that will help you become Headmaster if you so choose one day."

"A good point," he agreed.

"That's also why Dumbledore's has you in his special class isn't it? To help prepare you for that future role."

Now he chuckled at her. "Right in one Hermione. He's hoping to influence me by sharing things about the castle and so forth, but he's also been teaching me a lot of generally useful things as well." He sighed as he thought about it some more. "You know, the school will have to buy a Pensieve, and set up a classroom for this too, which we have plenty of. Hmm, I'll have to talk to Ginny about this too; she'll probably have some good ideas to add."

"You'll also need to address some sort of scholarship fund too. Not every student has your or my parent's ability to pay for the extra classes," she advised him, thinking about her fiancé.

"I already thought of that, and it's one of the easiest parts, really." She looked at him to explain. "I can set up a special account at Gringotts for this scholarship fund, throw in fifty thousand Galleons to start it, and the interest will probably take care of it." He was very matter-of-fact about it.

"That's extremely generous of you, Harry!"

"It's for a good cause. After all, if I do decide to come back here some day, I'd like some of my friends to come join me and I need them trained." They both laughed, but Harry did wonder if Colin and some of his younger friends would like to do this if they had the opportunity. Plus how much more could they advance the science of magic he silently wondered.

* * *

As the second week of December started, Ginny was somewhere between anxiety and just wanting the tests to be over with. Tuesday brought her Charms NEWT, which she thought she did quite well in as Professor Tofty seemed very impressed. Wednesday brought her Arithmancy test, and Thursday the Runes NEWT. Those seemed to go well, but she still felt a bit nervous about them. Friday held her last NEWT: Transfiguration. Professor Marchbanks praised her in glowing terms and compared her to her husband, which caused her to almost burst in pride. A very fatigued Ginny came home from the Ministry of Magic Friday afternoon.

Harry was ready for that however. Having made arrangements with Hermione that they have the Head common room to themselves, he greeted Ginny with a long kiss. Then grabbing towels and robes, he pulled her into their spacious bathroom. He told her to get undressed as he started filling the big tub and got undressed himself. When the tub was filled with hot water and their favorite scented bubble soap, he pulled her in.

Slowly he gave her a bath and massage. She enjoyed feeling his hands rub her stress-induced tense muscles. She relaxed and let him do whatever he wanted to her. After nearly fifteen minutes of his ministrations, a fact suddenly filtered into her mush of a brain. He had been touching her everywhere, and that included in places the Amorous Monitor shouldn't have let him. They had had to be very careful before when they had taken baths together.

As he worked on massaging her feet, which felt really good, she spoke her first coherent words since he had begun his massage. "Harry?"

"Yes, luv?"

"How come the Monitor hasn't zapped you yet?" She could feel his internal laughter through their bond.

Playfully, he queried, "You just noticed that now?"

"Uh, huh. I've been enjoying all this too much to think, not to mention what those tests did to me."

He seemed to rumble a low laugh. "It's an early Christmas present, Gin." His hands slowly worked up her left leg to her calf. "Like it?"

"Yes, your hands are doing a magnificent job," she complemented him.

"No, silly," he chuckled. "Do you like my present? I know it's only a custom charm and that a lot of times we don't think anything of doing magic, but it did take me a while to figure out how to overcome Dumbledore's monitoring spell."

"Oh, yes to that too. I could definitely get used to this. So won't Dumbledore or McGonagall find out you can remove the monitor in any room?" She felt his hands moved to her other calf.

"Not if I can help it. While I know the spell and could recast it, I didn't really remove the monitoring spell, I just created a special charm to mute or block the monitor. When we're done, I'll remove my blocking spell and no one should be any the wiser." He moved his hands higher up her leg.

"Harry?" She was getting more urgency in her voice. "If we can do anything in this room now, then I need you to come a lot closer." She pulled him nearer. They were going to miss dinner, but she didn't care. They had house-elves to take care of small details like that.

* * *

On the evening of the 19th, they Apparated to their front porch. They walked in and yelled, "We're home!" Dobby and Winky came to greet them. Looking around, they saw Winky had put up some Christmas decorations and Dobby had found a Christmas tree. Checking the rest of the house, they found the entire second floor was now done; only the attic, guesthouse, and yard remained to put to rights.

Sitting down to dinner, the Potters made sure their elves joined them. They wanted Dobby and Winky to feel like part of the family. That the elves appreciated the gesture was obvious by the look on their faces.

Again walking around the house arm in arm, Harry asked, "Gin, Winky was telling me that she didn't change much in the way of paint, or wallpaper, and that sort of thing. Are you really OK with all of this or do you want to redo it all?"

She just shrugged as they slowly made their way into the library. "I'm pretty happy with it all. I did have Winky freshen the paint, get new curtains for most of the rooms, and the linens needed to be replaced because of age, but I really am happy with what's here. Why do you ask?"

"I just find it surprising that not only do you look a little like my mum, but you seem to like her decorating style too. It's just so ... uncanny."

She chuckled at that. "I guess we both have good taste." She turned her head a bit and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "We both seem to have good taste in men too, ones who both have messy black hair, wear glasses, and look a lot like you."

He steered her towards the master bedroom as they walked. "What do you say about testing out the bed?"

"I'd say it was a brilliant idea," she said with a big smile on her face and laughter in her eyes. As they walked through doorway to the bedroom, she closed it behind them.

* * *

The next day, after a great pancake and bacon breakfast prepared by Winky, the couple Flooed to The Burrow. There they were greeted by her parents; Ron was not there because he was spending most of the holiday with Hermione and her parents. They had invited Ron so they could get to know him better.

After chatting for a while about school, Harry finally asked them, "Are you ready to come for a visit?"

"Yes, Harry dear, I've been dying to see your place," his mother-in-law told him. Arthur only smiled at that and probably wisely withheld his comments.

So Harry looked around the kitchen, and found some parchment and a quill. He wrote the secret down and showed it to them. After burning the parchment, he and Ginny walked to the fireplace and one at a time said, "Potter Manor in Godric's Hollow" and stepped in.

After the Potters, Arthur came out first then Molly. As they were led around, Molly kept saying how much she loved the house and what they'd done to it. Returning to the living room, she continued. "Ginny, you've really done a good job. I'm so proud at least some of my household lessons rubbed off on you."

The girl blushed. "Thanks Mum, but it wasn't all me."

"Of course not, sorry Harry, nice job to you too," Molly told him.

Harry smiled, "No Mum, I think what's she's trying to tell you is that we really didn't have to do all that much. Sure we cleaned a lot, though our house-elves did most of the cleaning, but the house has stayed mostly as it was from when my parents lived here."

"Exactly," his wife agreed. "I've had to redo curtains and a few other things that didn't survive from sitting here so long unattended, but Harry's Mum and I apparently have similar decorating ideas."

"That's very unusual, considering they never met," his father-in-law told him. "Find anything interesting here?"

"There are the pictures in the dining room. There were also a few boxes of more personal things, but we've only started going through them. Oh, and there's still some things in the attic I've yet to search through. I'm not sure what else we'll find by the time we're done," Harry explained.

"I'm sure you'll find some interesting things, dear," Molly told him. "Before I forget, I've got a couple of small things for you now." Reaching into her bag, she pulled out two boxes that she handed to her children.

Harry took the one with an "H" on the top, and Ginny took the one with "G" on it. Opening them, they found their two special home-made Christmas ornaments on it. The couple smiled and looked at each other. "Thanks, Mum!" Ginny told her. "We'll have to add something else to them."

"Yes," Harry agreed. "I think I'll have to add a ring to mine. That would represent the most significant event I've experienced this last year." His wife gave him a quick kiss before she took his ornament and hung both of theirs on their tree.

Molly still wanted to ask Harry about the sword and hand on his ornament, but didn't expect it would be answered, so she didn't bother asking.

"So Ginny, I know you took some of your NEWTs recently, but I haven't heard how you did," her father questioned her.

"Oh, sorry Dad, I just forgot. I got Outstanding in Charms, Transfiguration, and Runes; and I got an Exceeds Expectations in Arithmancy," she told her parents. Harry smiled at his wife and gave her a quick one-armed hug for her accomplishment.

"Ginny, I'm so proud of you," her mother told her. "I knew you'd do well. Does that help you in deciding what you want to do after you graduate? I'm sure a number of departments at the Ministry would be interested in hiring you."

"No Mum, I still haven't decided. I have plenty of time, and there are also a lot of jobs besides what the Ministry offers," she informed her mother. Ginny didn't quite understand why her mum seemed to think working at the Ministry for Magic was the best place to work. "I suppose I'll be able to narrow down what I want to do a bit more once Harry has decided. I don't want to conflict with his job."

"I suppose that makes sense," her mum told her, though she was still obviously a bit disappointed.

They all talked for a while longer before Arthur said, "I guess we should go, it's getting a bit late."

"Oh look at the time," Molly sounded surprised as she rose to join her husband. "We'll see you two for lunch on Christmas day?"

"Yes Mum. We're looking forward to it." A quick round of hugs and the Weasleys Flooed back home.

* * *

Over the next few days, Harry continued to work out in the front garden despite increasingly cold weather. There'd been a few snow flurries, but not enough to stay around.

On the afternoon of Christmas eve, Harry was again out working in the front getting close to removing the last of the overgrowth out front when he looked up and noticed a person walking up the street as if looking for something. He paused from Vanishing the pile of leaves in front of him to observe what appeared to be a woman. Something seemed familiar about her, though it wasn't immediately obvious. Watching her carefully as she seemed to look around in the direction of his house, he finally recognized the glasses on her. It was Rita Skeeter!

Anger at her shenanigans, her one good story about him notwithstanding, and from her apparently trying to track him and Ginny down caused him to point his wand at her and cry out "_Stupefy!_" She crumpled in the street. Realizing he couldn't leave her there, he also spoke "_Accio Rita!_" She came flying over and he caught her shoulders and laid her down on the ground.

Ginny came running out of the house wand in hand. "Harry! What's wrong?"

It wasn't until then that Harry even considered what feeling he had been transmitting to her. "Sorry I bothered you, Ginny, but we've had a problem come find us."

"She looks vaguely familiar, but who is it? Why did you stun her?"

"This is Rita Skeeter, supposed reporter and definitely an all-around pest who delights in making my life hell." Ginny gasped. "I caught her out here trying to find our house." He considered what his options were. He thought about getting a hold of Tonks, but wasn't sure if anything useful, at least long-term, would come of that. What he really wanted to know was what she was doing here.

Then he had an idea. It was probably borderline illegal, but he decided to rationalize it away by thinking it was for a good cause and his and Ginny's security. Putting his thumbs on her eyelids, he opened them and spoke "_Legilimens_". Her recent memories started flashing by, then for some reason he let it go a little further back and saw a few things which horrified him. Stopping the spell, he looked at his wife and told her, "I know how to make sure she never bothers us again, but I'm going to have to do something which I don't want to do."

"What's that?" she asked.

"In order to be guilt-free, I'm going to have to Obliviate your memory of having seen her." Her eyebrows shot up to the top of her forehead. "Sorry, but we need to be able to say we didn't see her today. Come on in the house." He stood and walked her in. He didn't worry too much about Rita waking up; he knew she would be out for a while.

Harry walked his wife in. "Are you sure about this Harry? I mean, I don't want you to get into trouble."

"Don't worry, Ginny, I'm just going to take our pest out there to the Ministry and make sure they know what she's done. I can't get into trouble for that." He could tell she wanted to ask a question, and he knew what it was. "The potential problem is that I Stunned her before she did anything to me. The penalty is slight, but I don't want that to happen, so I'm going to Obliviate her as well. Trust me, if you'd seen what else she'd done, you'd understand this really needs to happen. She's not a Death Eater, but she's not a nice person either. OK?"

Ginny nodded and hoped Harry was correct. "Dobby? Winky?" he called. The elves walked in the door to the kitchen to where their employers were. "I need you and Ginny to stay in this room for the next five minutes, all right?"

"Yes Sir."

"I'm going to remove a memory from Ginny, so she won't remember she needs to stay here, so you're going to have to help her. Ginny, tell them you agree before I do this, I think that will help." He looked at his wife.

"Winky, Dobby, I've agreed to this, so will you help me?"

"Yes, Mistress Ginny."

"Right, here we go," Harry hoped this was all going to work out. "Think of everything from now back until the time you felt my emotions that caused you to come running out. Try to think of it as a single thought and put that in the front of your mind to make it easier on me. Got it?" She paused for a second then nodded. "Very good ... _Obliviate!_"

Ginny assumed a lost look for a second, then she seemed to come back into the present. "What happened Harry? I thought I was fixing dinner. What am I doing over here?"

"Just a small problem, nothing to worry about. Why don't you sit here for the next five minutes and recover. I need to go finish what I was doing and I'll be back shortly. OK?"

"If something's wrong, I can help. I feel fine," she told him.

"Don't worry about it. The elves will stay here with you. Please stay here, OK?" He hoped this would work and she'd trust him.

"Well, OK, but if you're not back in a few minutes, I'll come looking for you."

"That's fine, Winky and Dobby will keep you company. I'll be right back." He got up and left.

Outside, Harry again pulled out his wand and carefully Obliviated the last week of Rita's life, as that was when she'd found out he had gone home for Christmas as well as looked up the records for where he lived. He quickly conjured a jar with a lid and holes in the top. Then he did a human to animal transfiguration and forced her to her Animagus form. Scooping her into the jar, he put the lid on and then cast an unbreakable charm on the jar just to make sure she stayed there. Conjuring a quill and parchment, he did his best to disguise his handwriting and wrote "_I'm an unregistered Animagus; also ask me about what I didn't report about Death Eaters and Voldemort_." Finally he made sure to wipe his fingerprints off the jar and put it on the ground. Now he had to take her in.

Disillusioning himself, he grabbed the jar with his robe so he would not get his fingerprints back on it and Apparated to the Leaky Cauldron, then to the Ministry of Magic. He didn't want to go directly in case that could be traced.

Walking to the receptionist desk, he waited until she looked away for a second, then he pulled out the jar and set it on her desk. Because curiosity got the better of him, he stepped back a short ways to a spot where he didn't think he'd be bumped and he waited to see what would happen.

She noticed it quickly and cautiously picked it up and read the note stuck to it. A look of surprise came over her face. As luck would have it, Kingsley Shacklebolt came walking by, so she called to him and handed it over.

Harry watched Shacklebolt read the note and look in the jar and saw several interesting expressions cross his face. Apparently, he decided there was as good a place as any because he unscrewed the jar lid, dumped the very still bug out onto the floor, and with his wand, he cast the spell which forces an Animagus back to a human. Not only was he surprised that it worked, but he was also surprised he recognized her.

About that time, Tonks and Dawlish came walking up. "What's going on, Kingsley?" Their team leader just handed the note over as he continued to stare at the unconscious reporter. "Well, now, this is going to be fun." A look of glee came across his godmother's face. "I wonder what happened?"

"Obviously she pissed off the wrong person," Kingsley replied. "If whoever did this was careful enough, we'll never find out who brought her to us, not that I really want to do that considering who this is and how many people she's trampled along the way. I think some Veritaserum is in her future." The other two Aurors agreed and laughed.

Harry decided he'd heard enough. He was thankful for the silencing spells on his boots as he walked back to the Apparation point on the other side of the foyer so he could go back home via the Leaky Cauldron. Once he was back in his front garden, he removed the Disillusioning spell on himself and thought about his memory from the time he saw Rita until now. Then very carefully he pointed his wand at himself and said, "_Obliviate_".

He tried to remember what he was doing. Seeing the pile of leaves in front of him and his wand in hand, the thought of Vanishing the leaves slowly reasserted itself. Not sure why he was having trouble remembering, he took care of them and seeing he was finished in the front, he went inside to wash up for dinner. Ginny and Winky had outdone themselves as usual; dinner was excellent.

* * *

Harry was forced awake Christmas morning by a bug trying to crawl on his nose. Snapping his eyes open so he could swat it, he found his wife leaning over him with a big grin on her face, tickling his nose with a strand of her hair. "Happy Christmas, Harry," she whispered.

"Happy Christmas, Ginny," he replied in a soft voice too, though he didn't know why as there were no guests in the house.

"Since you were nice enough to give me one of my presents early, would you like one of yours?" she asked very seductively.

"Uh, how can it be early? It's Christmas morning already."

"It is, but you haven't gotten out of bed yet, so has it really started?" She winked at him. "But if you want one of your presents now, you just have to unwrap it." He noticed she was looking down towards the foot of the bed. Raising his head a bit, he saw she was lying there wearing nothing by a wide ribbon and a bow around her waist. It was another hour before Harry got out of bed.

Once they finally got to the Christmas tree in the living room, they each saw five brightly colored boxes underneath. Several other small boxes were already gone. Harry had given Dobby more wild socks and hats, while Ginny had given Winky a few aprons and a small rug for their place. The Potters had been very adamant to the elves that they'd done so much cleaning and other work for their employers that they were not to give them presents because their work was enough for this year. The elves were also told to take the day off.

Harry insisted that Ginny open one of hers first. Inside she found a camera that took Wizarding photos. It did everything automatically. She had to try a few out and they had a real laugh at looking at one of Harry that made faces and other cheeky looks back at them.

She went ahead and opened the next one too. It was a medium sized box with a lot of jewelry in it. "I found it in the box of my parent's things. Most of it was my mum's, but there are a few family heirlooms in there too. I think you should have it all," Harry solemnly told her.

Ginny's eyes started to tear up. "Thank you Harry, you really make me feel like part of your family." Harry picked out a small but very fancy tiara and placed it on her head. That caused her to find other pieces and put them on too. When they were done, it was outlandish with her normal everyday clothes, but they both loved it. He had to take a picture of her.

Without taking anything off, she reached under the tree and pulled out a large, flat box and handed it to him. Unwrapping it, he found a painting of his parents. "Where did you get this?" he asked amazed.

"I found it in attic," his wife told him.

"Not sure I like my pants, where did these come from?"

"At least they match, I don't think my skirt matches my top, wrong shade."

Harry was again amazed as the two characters talked. "Mum, Dad?"

The painted parents who were only slightly older than Harry was now finally seemed to notice him for the first time. "Oh, hello. Who are you?"

"I'm Harry, your son."

"Oh, excellent, Lily, we had a son," the man said, while the woman beamed down at him.

"It was obviously done before you were born Harry," Ginny explained. "Only the top half was complete too, I had to take it in to have it finished. Fortunately, enough of them was already done so most of their personalities were already there. I thought you'd like it for the dining room."

He set the painting down and gave her a fierce hug. "Thank you Gin, you are the best."

She laughed and they let go of each other. "I think that's my line, but I'll let you borrow it," she told him cheekily. "Why don't you open your other present now?"

"Nope, you first."

Shrugging, she opened her last. In the smallish box, she found lots of adverts for woman's clothing. A puzzled look crossed her face.

"I thought a shopping spree might be nice." Her face lit up. "We've got a couple of big social events coming up that I thought you might want to get something for," he explained.

"Thanks, Harry!" He knew she'd never had a lot, and there wasn't much need at school, but that would be changing. "Now, open yours." She handed him the last present.

He tore it open and found an envelope. Opening that, he saw a note that said, "_Go out to the garage_." He looked at her, but she only smiled and stood up.

So he got up, they found their coats and went outside. Opening one of the garage doors, Harry looked inside and found a three-wheeled motorcycle. He gasped. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Don't know," Ginny said innocently. "What do you think it is?"

"That looks like the bike that Hagrid rode, that he said was Sirius'." He slowly walked in and started looking at it. There were even two helmets for it.

"Yes, Hagrid said that was Sirius' bike." He couldn't believe it. Ginny went on. "He showed me how to make it fly and everything. Perhaps you'd like to test it out when we go to my parents' house for lunch," she suggested.

"Oh, now that would be fun!" He grinned and pulled her into a big hug. "Thanks Gin! Not only do I have your family, but you're helping me to find mine." She just smiled and kissed him. He hugged her again and asked, "So where did you find this?"

"Hagrid had it." He looked at her like she'd lost her mind. "Let's go back inside where it's warmer and I'll tell you."

When they got back to the house, she started making breakfast as she told him the story. She'd been down visiting the half-giant one day when Harry had been in a meeting with McGonagall. When she mentioned all the old stuff in the boxes from Harry's house, Hagrid suddenly remembered the motorbike. He said he'd been saving it for when Harry turned seventeen and that's why he'd never mentioned it. And when he'd showed the shrunken bike to Ginny and she'd said she thought it would make a great Christmas present, he'd given it to her. Harry marveled at the story.

Until it was time to go, they hung the picture of Harry's parents in the dining room and talked to the pictures, learning family history. Then they bundled up warmly and headed out to the garage. Ginny showed him how to operate the bike, including the switches to make it fly, go silent, and disillusion itself and its riders. Touching her wand to the back of her head to make her hair braid itself, she grabbed a helmet and Harry followed suit.

Throwing all caution to the wind, they mounted the bike and started it up. Harry thought he was going to go deaf with its loud thrumming confined and amplified in the garage. He quickly hit the silence switch. Then very slowly so he could get the hang of it, he started it rolling down the driveway and into the street. Once he got the hang of that, he hit the disillusioning switch and the flying switch. It was a real trip!

They were quite cold but still excited as they landed in the back garden of The Burrow. Harry had turned off the disillusioning and the silencing switches as they started to land. He wanted to make an entrance. As they rolled to a stop, eight Weasleys and three Grangers came out of the house. When he turned off the motor, the thrumming was replaced by a cacophony of voices. He turned to look at his wife and they both grinned at each other. They had definitely made an entrance.

It wasn't until they removed their helmets and got off the bike, that everyone started crowding around to see it. That was also when the Potters first noticed that Percy was there too. The newlyweds did their best to answer the basic questions, most of which came from Ginny's dad, before they went into the house to get warmed up.

Molly already had a big lunch prepared and they all sat down to eat. The bike consumed the majority of the discussion at the table for quite some time. Harry eventually got to talk to Ron about his holiday so far. Ron told him in a low voice that things were a bit weird in a Muggle house, but it probably wouldn't be too bad after a few years of getting used to it. That made Harry almost choke on his food as he started laughing. Ron also said the Grangers were pretty nice but he'd had to be on his very best behavior. Harry laughed at that too, and told him at least he didn't have to worry about six older brothers. Ron readily agreed about that before he looked lovingly at Hermione.

After lunch they retired to the living room, where a few extra chairs had to be conjured for the occasion. Harry also conjured a loveseat couch for him and Ginny, which earned him a few special remarks from the twins. The newlyweds only slightly blushed at that but it didn't stop them from sitting there, nor did it stop Harry from putting his arm around Ginny's shoulders.

Most everyone seemed to have a good time talking, even the Grangers when they understood what was being talked about. The exception was Percy. He would occasionally say something, but most of the time he sat there quietly. Harry found it interesting. He also found Ginny's feelings interesting. Whenever her "lost brother" spoke, there was a spike of both anger and sadness. He understood, but suspected his feelings were for different reasons; it would be an interesting conversation when they got home.

The Potters were the first to leave as they wanted to get home before it got dark, so as the afternoon came to a close, they got up to go. Hugs and handshakes bid them goodbye. Everyone seemed to want to follow them out, but Harry told them all to stay in where it was warm. The two went out into the kitchen to bundle up before leaving. Surprisingly, Percy followed them out to the kitchen.

"Ginny?" Her brother was very quiet. "I'm... I'm sorry."

She looked at him very thoughtfully. Harry could feel the anger coming from her, but it didn't show on her face. A very neutral, "I'm sure you are, Percy," was all she said before she walked out the kitchen door.

Percy stared after her. Harry finished bundling up and pulled his helmet on. He walked up to Percy and told him, "Percy, you threw a lot away. It's going to take time for that to come back." His brother-in-law looked at him. "You could have disagreed and still been in the family if you'd been careful about it, but you were so public and hurtful about it all that it cut everyone very deeply. It's the enormity of your actions that will take time to overcome."

Percy seemed to accept that. "And you, Harry?"

Harry thought about it. "I don't dislike you as much as she does, but I was hurt by your disbelief of what I said and the way you abandoned your family too. Since I never had a family, I can't imagine why you'd ever do anything to leave. But, now that you've had to live without one for awhile, maybe you can appreciate them more. Keep asking for forgiveness Percy, one day we'll say yes." He left a silent Percy behind as he walked out to fly his wife home.

* * *

The next morning, Harry was skimming the _Daily Prophet_ and a story on the bottom of the front page got his attention. "Hey Ginny, remember all that stuff Rita Skeeter has pulled on me over the years?"

"Yes dear."

"She's finally got what's been coming to her. It says here she's been turned in anonymously for being an unregistered Animagus and will be serving three years in Azkaban for that." He read on. "Oh, and it also says she's under investigation for withholding information about Voldemort and Death Eater activity, which will get her a sentence of twenty years if found guilty. How about that?"

The two of them looked at each other surprised. As Ginny thought about Harry's memories of what had happened to him because of her, she sweetly told him, "It couldn't have happened to a nicer person." They laughed.

It was turning out to be a nice Christmas holiday. A shopping trip over the next few days made it even more so for Ginny.

* * *

The Saturday after Christmas, Harry got dressed in his Muggle suit then charmed it black, while Ginny put on a nice looking long dress, which she charmed various shades of green. Together they Flooed to Tonks' flat, which was now empty as she'd moved out over the last few days. From there, they took a taxi with her to a small chapel nearby where they met Remus and a few others, including most of the Weasley clan and what was left of the old Order of the Phoenix.

Ginny and Tonks' went into a back room to finish getting ready, while Harry went and waited with Remus. They didn't have long until the wedding.

"Why are we here, Remus?" Harry asked when they had settled down. It was just the two of them on the groom's side. Remus had asked Harry to stand up with him since Sirius and James were no longer available. Tonks had decided that Ginny would do just fine as she was her godson's wife and Remus had no female relatives.

"Tonks has always liked this little chapel," Remus told him. "She grew up near here and it was one of the few things she promised herself. If she ever got married, it would be here. So how's life, Harry?"

A huge smile crossed the boy's face. "I really have trouble deciding how it could be any better, Moony." At the older man's questioning look, Harry continued. "Really! I've got two families now, I'm Head Boy at school with an incredibly easy schedule mostly studying advanced stuff that I actually want to study, I've got a great place to live both at the castle and away, and to top it all off, I've got a beautiful wife who not only loves me but gives me an outlet to, ah, ah, do what every teenage boy wants to do with girls and not get into trouble." He finished with a bit of pink on his face.

Remus started laughing at his phrasing and dancing around not wanting to say the word sex. "I can see your point," he finally said when he could. "I suppose not having a major Dark Lord after you any more is also a pretty good feeling."

"Oh yeah, there is that too." Harry kept smiling. "I only have the vaguest of ideas about what to do with myself after graduation, but there are so many options I'm sure we'll find something that will make both Ginny and myself happy."

"Great, Harry! I'm really happy for you."

"What about you, Remus? What are you going to be doing?"

"Oh, more of the same." Remus explained. "I find odd jobs here and there. With the money from Sirius and the house you gave us - thank you again Harry - plus Tonks' job, it works out pretty well. I'm also checking out several Lycanthropy cures. None have shown any long-term success, but perhaps one day I'll find something. But you know, I do think you've found one of life's important secrets already, Harry."

"What's that?"

"With a wife that you love, there are many wonderful options available to you." The older man smiled at his godson-to-be. "That you've found the secret so early in life makes me very happy for you." Harry didn't know what to say.

Dumbledore stuck his head in at that moment, "Remus, it's time."

"Thank you, Albus." The two men went out. Harry saw there were only about twenty to thirty people there, including the wedding party. Tonks had indeed meant it when she said a small wedding.

During the ceremony, Harry was struck by the wonder of it as the memories of his wedding came to mind. He looked up and over at Ginny on the other side and saw her looking at him. Their eyes locked and the memories and thoughts started flowing.

_I'd marry you all over again Ginny._

_And I'd marry you again Harry. Would you still marry me if we didn't have our bond forcing us to do so?_

_I didn't feel forced. I felt I was getting the most beautiful, wonderful, smartest girl who was just right for me. I'd take you anytime, bond or not._

_Oh Harry, that's why I always wanted you. I knew that was the real you, and that you were right for me - for now and forever._

_Ginny, I _... Harry felt a nudge from Remus and suddenly looked up to see him, Tonks, and Dumbledore looking at him. His mind swiftly kicked into gear and he pulled out the ring and handed it over. Turning his head slightly, he saw everyone else was looking at him too, including a smirking Hermione who had obviously figured out what had been happening. He did his best to control himself and only went a little pink from embarrassment. Looking back at Ginny, he saw a smirk come across her face at him, then she carefully pulled out a ring and handed it over to Tonks without having to be prompted.

When she looked back at Harry, she thought to him, _See, that's how it's done, Potter._

_Oh really, Potter, well you just wait until we get home and I'll show you how it's done there._

_Just like that?_

_Yes! Just like that! _And he sent mental images of what he planned to do, and she developed her own blush.

Ginny was saved further embarrassment while on the stage by Dumbledore finishing the ceremony and saying to everyone, "I now present to you Mr. and Mrs. Remus Lupin." On the other hand, Harry planned to continue to flirt with her until they got home; various possibilities presented themselves to his mind.

* * *

.


	31. Gatherings

Version: 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

**Chapter 31: Gatherings**

Neither Harry nor Ginny really wanted to return to school, so they waited until the very last minute to Apparate back. They found Professor Cobb by the gates. "Cutting it close there aren't you, Potter?" He smiled at his usual joke with them - using one name for both of them.

"Just trying to enjoy all of the holiday, Professor," Harry told him. "Is there a problem sir?"

"No, Mr. Potter, I'm here for everyone who's Apparating back. I'll be closing the gates shortly," his Professor replied.

The couple walked onto the school grounds and back towards their apartment. Harry was carrying both of their bags because Ginny was carrying a big shopping bag. Even though all of the new clothes Ginny had bought had been shrunk, the bag was full to overflowing. He had never been aware of all the different types of clothes girls could buy. Ginny had even pulled him into a Muggle shop that only sold sleepwear, or what they called lingerie. She had bought a few things there, but Harry didn't think she was going be doing much sleeping in it. Then there were all the shoes, belts, and other accessories, as she called them, he'd had to buy. He figured he had spent over five hundred Galleons on it all, and that didn't count the various clothes he'd bought her at the Wizarding clothing stores. Still, it was what he'd wanted to do for her and money really wasn't a problem.

One thing that had been really cool, until the novelty wore off, was the little plastic card that Gringotts had given him, that he could use at Muggle stores. The goblin had told him they had a deal with a Muggle bank so when he made purchases with the little card, it would go through the Muggle bank to make the store happy, and then the bank would get the converted money from his Gringotts account.

Back in their bedroom, they ran into a problem neither of them had anticipated. As Ginny began enlarging all the things she bought, it readily became apparent that even her magically enlarged wardrobe wasn't going to hold it all. A quick call to Dobby was made and the elf went to get another dresser from the castle stores. By the time Ginny was done putting it all away, there was no extra space left in the new wardrobe either.

* * *

The first Saturday after everyone came back was the day of the big Yule party. The Headmistress had given her consent, and Dumbledore had helped Harry set it all up. Dinner was moved up by an hour that evening, not that Harry and Ginny were there. They were having dinner in another room with the Weird Sisters, who were to be performing that evening. The group was really appreciative of Harry and Ginny's effort in getting rid of Voldemort and this was their way of thanking them; the band also gave them free T-shirts and the few albums Ginny didn't already have - all autographed of course.

After dinner was completed and everyone was sent from the Great Hall, the tables were pushed back and the band had a few helpers set up their stage area where the teacher's table normally was. When the party was to start and almost every student in the castle was in the Great Hall, the band sent Harry and Ginny out on stage. Harry got a number of squeals from the girls, and Ginny got some whistles from the boys as she was wearing one of her new dresses that Harry thought looked great on her.

Harry put a _Sonorus_ on himself and announced, "Good evening, Hogwarts!" There was lots of cheering. "We're glad you all came tonight. As most of you have seen, there's food and drinks around the room. I hope that in addition to everyone having fun, you get to know some new people, especially people from a house different than yours. There's also a booth at the back if you'd like to buy some souvenirs or music from the band we have tonight. If you've heard of them, give a big Hogwarts welcome to The Weird Sisters!"

He quickly did a _Quietus_ on himself, then he and Ginny separately did a fireworks charm that put a lot of exploding sparks and smoke on the stage for the band to run through and suddenly appear. The crowd loved it and cheered even louder.

There was dancing, eating, drinking, talking, and amazingly, everyone behaved themselves and no one got into trouble. The Potters got lots of compliments on arranging the party. McGonagall had announced it, as well as a Valentine's dinner, just before Christmas break so everyone could bring back clothes for it if they wanted. She'd also given credit for the socials to the Head Boy and his wife.

At the end of the evening, the Headmistress came up to him as well and congratulated him on such a fine idea. The only downside to the entire evening, other than it had to end, was that Harry had to keep turning away boys who wanted to dance with his wife. Ginny took it in good stride though, as she had to turn away a number of girls who kept trying to get Harry to dance with them.

* * *

The next big social event of the year was on Valentine's Day, which fell on a Saturday. Harry had managed to borrow the WWN radio again and they used that for music as the station had promised to play romantic music all evening. Harry also convinced the Headmistress to transfigure the four big tables into the right number of smaller tables that sat four, and to relax the normal rule of a house sitting together. That was especially beneficial to the few couples who were from different houses.

The Gryffindor foursome snagged a table for themselves and had a very enjoyable dinner. Looking around the room, Harry saw most of the tables had two couples, though some of them had four boys or four girls. Those single gender tables were mostly students from the lower years who hadn't quite "discovered" the opposite sex yet.

No one was required to leave after dinner. More punch and snacks were put out and some of the tables in the middle of the floor were moved so a dancing area was available. A few of the teachers were recruited by the Headmistress to chaperone and make sure no couple got too friendly. The majority of the fifth years and up told Harry this was a great idea too. Most of the younger years left after dinner for their common rooms, though some did stay around and just talked.

The alarm on Harry's watch went off at ten minutes before ten o'clock. Ginny looked at him in surprise as the party was scheduled to go until eleven. He smiled at her as he shut it off and gently pulled on her hand and led her away. She supposed she shouldn't have been surprised to wind up on the seventh floor.

"Now what?" she asked when they'd gotten to the place the door for the Room of Requirement should have been but wasn't.

Looking at his watch, he told her, "We wait for about a minute and a half." She lifted an eyebrow in question, but he told her, "Just trust me." She knew Harry liked his little surprises, so she did her best to be patient.

At the appointed time, the walled produced a door and it opened up. There stood Dobby and Winky. "Right on time, Dobby. I hope you had an enjoyable time waiting?"

"Oh yes, Harry Potter. Winky and I enjoyed ourselves very much," the elf told him while his elf wife got a very bashful look on her.

"Wonderful ... well, you two can go home now. Thanks for holding the room for me."

"You're very welcome, Harry Sir! Only two people tried to get in while we were waiting, so it was a good idea to have me wait here so no one else could come in." Ginny now understood. Trust Harry to think of little details like that.

As Harry shut the door, Ginny saw the room had transformed so that it looked like they were standing in the middle of the night sky surrounded by slowly twinkling stars. An occasional cloud floated along approximately where the floor was. "It's beautiful, Harry," she breathed. There were also shooting stars streaking across the ceiling from time to time. If she looked hard enough, she could see the floor and walls as the images moved over them, but it was all still very beautiful.

Harry led her over to one of the more substantial looking clouds. He sat on it and pulled Ginny down onto top of him to sit on his lap; she gave a small scream of surprise, but ended up giggling when she realized what was happening. "I didn't expect the clouds to hold us up," she told him.

"Most of them wouldn't," he whispered to her as he started kissing her neck.

"What do you mean most wouldn't?"

"Just that. Only this one that's like a couch and that big one over there will, you'd fall through the rest," he told her as he started to get more intimate with her.

She moaned as he kissed her deeply; then she froze. "Harry," she quickly grabbed his hand, "you did block the monitor, right?"

"Of course my dear, it was the first thing I did in here this evening." He wiggled his hand loose from hers and resumed his work. She didn't stop him again.

— — —

Harry didn't know what it was, but something woke him. Looking across the room, or night sky, he saw a square of light that was probably the doorway. He panicked and quickly searched for a wand, and that woke Ginny, who looked up just in time to see a rock wall appear right in front of their bed of clouds and to hear her husband hiss, "Get dressed quickly!"

They each rolled out of the cloud bed and scrambled to pull their clothes on. Part of his panic came from knowing that only one person should have been able to open the door when the room was in use. He did not care for the thought of the Headmistress finding them like this, even if they were married. He had his pants on and was trying to put his shirt back right side out when he heard a man's voice that he recognized calling his name. "Harry? Is that you over there?"

With only his pants on, he leaned out from behind the wall so only his head showed, fortunately he saw only Dumbledore standing there. Apparently, former-Headmasters retained complete control of the room too. "Mr. Potter, I'm disappointed to find you here like this. I presume Mrs. Potter is behind there too. If you two would come out when you're decent again."

Harry gulped and tried to finish dressing as fast as he could. In this case, Ginny actually beat him as she'd been wearing a dress and had less to put back on. Once he got his shoes on, they held hands and walked out from behind the wall, though they left it up.

Dumbledore looked at the couple obviously contemplating the situation. Finally, he said, "You know I should give you two detention for this. That is only allowed for you in your quarters." Then a sudden look of realization came over him. The former Headmaster closed his eyes and the room changed from the romantic sky scene back to just the bare room. That done, he looked up to see his Amorous Monitor and found it had a slightly golden dome around it. "Well now, that's interesting. Would you please tell me how you overcame the monitor?"

"I, uh, did a lot of research on it and determined a combination blinding and shield spell would overcome it, so I created one. Since the monitor is only blocked, it's easy to remove and the original monitoring behavior is back." Harry just stood there waiting to see what else was going to happen. Ginny hadn't said a word, he felt contrition and guilt for being caught coming from her.

"I see," the teacher told him. "How long did it take you to come up with that?"

"Uh, about two and a half months of a few hours here and there. It probably would have taken me longer if you hadn't done the spell in front of me back at the beginning of the year," Harry admitted.

That caused the old man to chuckle. "Let that be a lesson to you Mr. Potter, don't show off spells that you need to keep a secret." He paused and considered it all some more. "So you really think you wouldn't have needed my demonstration of the spell?"

"I believe I would have figured it out anyway, I just wouldn't have done it so quickly. I will also say that doing this has really helped me with spell creation work though, if that matters." Harry was really trying to get on Dumbledore's good side, hoping that would help lessen the punishment.

The old wizard smiled and Harry wondered if his efforts were obvious or not. "Who else knows about this, Mr. Potter?"

"I'm the only one, sir."

"Very well. I really should give you detention, yet I'm also impressed with your spell work which deserves extra credit in class. So I believe I'll let those two actions cancel each other out if you'll promise not to show this blocking spell to anyone."

"Yes sir, I promise!" he readily agreed.

Dumbledore now moved his attention. "Mrs. Potter, I think I'd like the same promise from you, as I wouldn't expect a man to keep secrets from his wife."

She mentally gulped as she'd been happy to have been spared the attention. "Yes sir, I promise too!"

"Then make sure you have all your things and head back to your rooms; it's nearly midnight." They did a quick check then hurried to leave. "Oh Harry," the students stopped at the door. "Nice job on the setting. I've never seen the room do stars and clouds like that before." Harry nodded his acknowledgment and they left. Their professor slowly shook his head in amazement at those two. Turning back to the center of the room, he ended the block with a simple _Finite Incantatem!_ before he too left. He wasn't sure if he was going to tell Minerva or not, he'd have to think on it. He was actually proud of Harry for figuring that spell out.

* * *

The first weekend in March brought another Hogsmeade weekend. The foursome had a very enjoyable time until a fourth year Hufflepuff and a fifth year Slytherin started flinging spells at each other in the street in front of the Three Broomsticks. Unfortunately for them, both the Head Boy and Head Girl were inside. Harry and Hermione rushed out of the pub when a younger Gryffindor informed them of what was happening.

It wasn't immediate obvious what had started it all, plus Harry and Hermione had been in the middle of a late lunch, so they brought the two boys into the pub and made them sit there until the foursome was finished. To Harry's amazement, even in front of the foursome, the two boys tried to go after one another so he had to tie them to their chairs and silence them. Ron suggested turning them into ferrets, but Hermione quickly nixed that idea. Eventually, the group of six walked back to the castle and the two boys were handed over to McGonagall. _The joys of being Head Boy_, Harry thought sarcastically.

The next weekend brought the Slytherin and Hufflepuff game. Hufflepuff won again, 390-80. Ron and Harry were both surprised at that, considering what the Hufflepuff team was like last year. Next month's game with them would prove interesting.

The next match was between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw match. Ravenclaw's team continued to disappoint their house this year. Ron had an excellent day, as did Ginny with nineteen goals. The Golden Snitch hid itself well until Harry finally found it and ended the game at 490-20.

After the players got cleaned up, Hermione joined them as they headed back to the castle. She also had some good news for them. "Ron, Harry, did you see the three men in the stands near McGonagall and Dumbledore?"

The two boys looked at each other, both with a "What's she talking about?" look. "No," Ron finally answered her. "Who were they?"

"Don't know," she told them, "but rumor was they were professional Quidditch scouts." She gave them a big smile.

"Really?" Ron seemed quite pleased. Harry liked that thought too.

"Yeah, and they weren't there last week. And since Ravenclaw is the last place team, they must have been there to watch you two," she deduced. That got them even more excited and they talked about it all the way to the castle. Each of the couples was holding hands; the Potters were also holding their Firebolts as they never left them out in the field house even if the lockers and the room were locked.

As they walked in through the open double doors to the castle four abreast, Ginny saw a green bolt coming toward them out of the corner of her eye. She flung her broom and pulled on Harry at the same time so they went tumbling to the floor.

Harry saw two green jets of light go just barely over their heads as he fell. Letting go of his broom, he didn't even bother with his wand, and with his left hand he Banished a Vincent Crabbe who had his wand in front of him. Unfortunately for Crabbe, there was a suit of armor right behind him and his head smashed into the mace the armor held with Harry and Ginny's bonded strength. Blood and yellow stuff splattered all over the area.

Ginny knew a shield would do no good against Killing Curses, so as she pulled her wand out she went straight to offensive mode. Seeing Crabbe go flying, she aimed at Gregory Goyle. Just as he had "Avada" out, Ginny finished her best bludgeoning spell. Unfortunately for Goyle, he wasn't standing in front of the hallway as Malfoy had been almost a year ago, instead he was standing at the edge of it. So when their bond strengthened spell hit him, he flew back and hit the sharp rock that was the corner of the hallway; it split his back open and almost cut him in half from top to bottom before he fell to the floor, contributing even more gore to the area.

Looking over at Ron and Hermione to make sure they were unhurt, Harry saw Ron wrapping his fiancée in his arms, trying to shield her from the sight, though the boy prefect was becoming pale very quickly. Harry also pulled out his wand just in case as he saw his wife get up and start to walk over to their attackers, she looked like fire personified in her fury.

It was at that time that McGonagall walked in from outside. "My stars!" she exclaimed as she took in the carnage. "What happened?" Ginny barely glanced at the Headmistress and continued over to make sure their attackers weren't going to be getting up again. It was a needless gesture, but she was so angry it made her feel a little bit better anyway.

Harry got up and tried to answer the question, though he was still trying to think it all through. "Those two attacked us, Professor. You can see the marks on the wall made by the Killing Curses they shot at us." He was amazed at how calm he sounded. Then an observation from the fight clicked into his brain. "Dobby! I need your help."

The elf popped in. When he saw his master and mistress with wands in hand and the two bodies lying on the floor, a feral look came over him. "Dobby!" Harry firmly called, and the elf now looked up at him. "I need you to go get my map as fast as possible. You'll find it in the top left drawer of my desk. Please hurry!" The elf didn't say a word but popped out.

Ginny had come back over to where Harry was, and it was difficult to tell who was trying to comfort whom. They hugged each other tightly in their thankfulness of the other's safety. Dobby returned less than ten seconds after he'd left and handed the oversized parchment to Harry.

Letting go of Ginny, he tapped his wand to it and muttered, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." As the map started drawing itself, he opened it.

"Is that the famous Marauder's Map?" McGonagall asked.

"You know about this?" Harry wondered just how un-secret the map was.

"Professor Dumbledore told me about it only earlier this year. What are you looking for, Harry?" She couldn't imagine why he needed it, though it was fascinating to look at for the first time.

"I don't believe they were really Crabbe and Goyle. They cast spells too well," Harry explained. "I'm thinking Polyjuice was involved."

The idea there were intruders in the castle hadn't even occurred to the Headmistress. Because the attackers were dead, they didn't register on the map so they had no clues as to whom they were, and Harry didn't want to wait to find out.

"There," Ginny said shortly and pointed to a spot on the map near where the lake and forest came together. She knew what Harry had in mind; it was obvious so she started walking for the front door.

Harry was only a step behind her. Over his shoulder he called out, "You can wait or come with us as you wish Professor."

Seeing those two in a totally new way, McGonagall quickly made up her mind. "I believe I had better come with you," then under her breath, "for those two boys' sake."

The Potters led the way. Halfway there, Harry saw the targets still hadn't moved, so he muttered, "Mischief managed," and put the map in his pocket. Turning to his wife, he simply said, "Disillusion charm."

McGonagall saw the students tap the top of their heads with their wands and disappear, with the exception of very slight wavers. She started to ask why, then understanding they needed to sneak up on the other two, she followed their example.

A few minutes later, the three from the castle heard talking. Someone was saying, "So how much longer do you think we have to stay here?"

"Don't know," the other replied. "He said to stay here until they returned."

The Headmistress was trying to decide the best course of action when twin jets of ropes shot out and wrapped themselves around the real Crabbe and Goyle. She wondered how they'd coordinated that when she hadn't heard a sound between the couple in front of her. Then they reappeared, so she did too.

She watched Harry walked up to Crabbe and confiscate a wand, which he handed to Ginny. Then he put his hands on both sides of Crabbe's head and stared into his eyes for a few seconds. By the time he moved over to Goyle, McGonagall figured out what he was doing. It probably wasn't the right thing to do, but she decided she wasn't going to stop him either. He and his wife had been attacked, and they did need information.

Goyle seemed a little bit smarter, or else luckier, as he shut his eyes. So Harry slapped him on the cheek and the bound boy opened his eyes in surprise. That was all Harry needed, and a few seconds later he'd finished mining what he needed there too.

"What did you find, Harry?" the teacher asked him.

Harry didn't seem surprised that she'd figured out what he was doing. "They were met in Hogsmeade at the last trip and it was arranged for these two to meet our attackers here, and to wait for the deed to be done so there wouldn't be two sets of these goons seen which would give away the surprise."

"Who were the attackers Harry?"

"One was Narcissa Malfoy, who was after revenge for her husband and son. And the other was Marcus Flint."

"What?! The one that graduated from here four years ago?" The Professor was taken aback by that.

"The same," Harry replied. Then pointing his wand at Crabbe, he spoke "_Mobiliarbus!_" and started back for the castle. Ginny pointed her wand at Goyle and did the same. "Professor, could you send a Patronus message to Tonks or Kingsley and have them come to the front door? I believe they'll need to take these two away."

"Indeed they will, Mr. Potter." The Headmistress sent a message as she walked back to the castle.

When they came to the front steps, they found two prefects there as if guarding the doors. Inside, they found Hermione and Ron in charge of the scene, and several other prefects, including Blaise and Daphne, guarding the various hallways into the area. All the other students had been sent away. They also finally saw Flitwick off to the side looking at the curse marks on the wall. Sheets had been thrown over the bodies so no one had to look at the worst of the mess.

Harry walked Crabbe over to the middle of the foyer and just let Crabbe drop the two feet he was off the floor. Ginny continued to follow his lead and did the same with Goyle. Their anger still had not abated, each being fueled by the other through their bond. Again they hugged as they seemed to need to know and feel the other was safe.

Flitwick started to ask something, but running feet interrupted him. Tonks had the lead, closely followed by Kingsley and Dawlish. Tonks didn't stop until she got to her godson and his wife, both of whom she wrapped into a hug. "I'm so glad you both are safe."

"So what have you done this time, Potter?" Dawlish sarcastically asked.

"Shut up, you oaf!" Harry yelled at him. After a few seconds he went on, "You've been after my arse almost every time you've been near me ever since that time in Dumbledore's office two years ago. What is it with you?" But Dawlish didn't say a word, though it wasn't for lack of trying as his mouth was moving.

Harry turned back to Tonks, though with some residual anger still in his voice. "Those two over there," he pointed at the sheet covered bodies, "are Narcissa Malfoy and Marcus Flint. Two missing Death Eaters I believe."

"They are," Kingsley's deep voice quietly said, though he was still looking at a struggling Dawlish.

"They impersonated Crabbe and Goyle here," he pointed at the two bound students on the floor, "with Polyjuice and came into the castle. They fired two Killing Curses at us before we Banished or Bludgeoned them." Harry's anger and volume was building. "Crabbe and Goyle willing went along with the plan and even knew we were to be killed. Please take them away before I do something to them at the insanity of this whole situation. The war is supposed to be over!" He was ready to explode, and in fact the armor that had killed Flint was rattling slightly.

"Harry?" Tonks stepped back up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Why don't you take Ginny back to your room so you two can get away from this mess? I'll come up and see you in a little while, OK?" She was doing her best to soothe the young man with a pleasant voice, hoping to avoid any accidental magic. She thought she was probably the only person here who knew what these two were truly capable of and that they needed to calm down.

Ginny finally realized things were getting out of hand as they were sending emotions back and forth between them, and it had to stop. "Come on, Harry," she told him as she tried to push calming thoughts on herself and him, "let's go. Tonks has a good idea." With her arm around his waist, she guided him to the stairs. No one said anything, and in fact Dawlish stepped back as they went by him, still unable to understand why he couldn't speak. Going up the stairs, Ginny whispered to him, "I think a nice hot bath sounds like a good thing right now, dear. Will you join me?" Harry blew out a big breath and a lot of stress and nodded.

Dumbledore passed the Potters on the stairs. He'd been talking with some people and only now was able to get away. He would have asked Harry what was going on, but one look at the lad and his wife convinced him that was not a good idea, not when he could see Minerva over the railing and knew she would have a handle on the situation, and he could get his information from her.

Down in the foyer, he talked to Minerva about it all and was shocked to find out what had happened. He felt some jitteriness in his chest, but it quieted down after a few minutes. He couldn't believe an attack in the castle after the war was over. Then a truly amusing moment presented itself, which was welcome after all the drama.

"Albus?" Minerva spoke to him again. "Do you remember the talking problem Draco Malfoy had last year?"

"Certainly, why?"

"It, ah, seems to be spreading," her lips seemed to twitch.

Dumbledore looked at the Headmistress. "Oh? I'm afraid I don't understand."

She pointed to Dawlish who was just standing there while the other two Aurors did all the work. "It seems he can't talk any more, and when Filius did a _Finite Incantatem,_ it didn't seem to help."

"Really?" he replied and let a smile cross his old face. Dumbledore and McGonagall walked over to the mute Auror. "Dawlish, I might suggest you lose your ego while you've lost your voice. The last person I saw like this spent three days in St. Mungo's." The Auror looked at Dumbledore in alarm, while Tonks started laughing; Kingsley only shook his head as he shrunk the dead bodies so they could be taken away.

— — —

Ginny was massaging Harry's shoulders while they were in their oversized tub. It had taken over fifteen minutes, but she'd finally gotten him to the point of mostly calm. "Harry? I have a small confession to make."

"Uh huh ..." He was feeling pretty good from her rubbing his back, and he could feel a bit of playfulness coming from her, so he wasn't worried.

"I hope you don't mind that I secretly pointed my wand at Dawlish and soundlessly sent a silencing spell at him after you told him to shut up."

He snorted. "Really? Like right afterward?"

Now she could feel playfulness coming from him. "Yeah, why?"

Harry started laughing, which got her going too. When he could talk again, he told her, "Because, I sent one to him then too, soundlessly and wandlessly." They both started laughing again. "I mean, can you imagine what happened to him, Gin?" He chuckled some more. "We were using our bonded strength and both did it at the same time."

She continued to chuckle for a while too. "Oh Harry, that's going to take forever to wear off."

"Yeah, and I wonder if they'll be able to remove it, considering how hard a time they had on Malfoy when it was just me." Harry delighted in that thought. Then he turned around and pulled her to him. "Thanks Gin, thanks for being there for me. I love you so much."

"Then show me Harry. I need to know everything will be alright ..."

— — —

Hermione led the Aurors into the Head common room. Seeing the bathroom door closed, she assumed her friends were still in there. How they took a bath together without setting off the Amorous Monitor puzzled her. All it took was one accidental touch, and then it hit her. They had a way to turn it off! She banged on the door, "Harry! Ginny! You have visitors!" She was going to get them for not sharing that spell.

Harry helped his wife out of the tub. After they got their robes on, he ended his blocking spell. Emerging, they found Tonks and Kingsley there along with Hermione and Ron. "Come on in and make yourselves comfortable. We'll be out in a few minutes." The Potters walked into their rooms.

"But where are you going to change?" Tonks asked.

Hermione and Ron only smiled and followed their friends in, so the Aurors did too. Then Tonks saw why they weren't concerned. "When did the Head Boy get multiple rooms? It was a single private room when I was here."

Harry smiled at her as he crossed the room. "I'll let these two tell you, we'll be out soon." So Ron and Hermione took turns explaining about Harry's expansion project. A few minutes later the Potters returned and joined their guests in their little living room.

"Feeling better Harry?" Tonks asked.

"Loads, though I can't say the time after the game was fun."

"I understand," she told him. Kingsley had agreed to let her do most of the talking to hopefully make it easier on Harry. "Well, first, our thanks for catching Malfoy and Flint, as well as saving us the trouble of putting them in Azkaban. They were at the top of our most wanted list." That surprised the students. "Second, don't worry about Crabbe and Goyle. I don't expect them to see normal life for at least twenty years, and more realistically forty, if they survive that long."

"Thanks," Harry and Ginny both said at the same time, which brought a smile to their faces.

"And finally, I and a few others," Tonks went on, "appreciate you knocking Dawlish down a few pegs."

"Me?" Harry did his best to look surprised. "I didn't do anything."

"Uh huh, and I heard about Draco Malfoy last year too," she told him and looked questioning at him.

"Oh yes, I don't believe they ever figured out exactly what happened to him. Must be something about the foyer; both of them seem to have developed their problem there." Harry was having to work hard at maintaining a straight face. He looked at Ron who was watching him closely, Harry shrugged as if he had no clue.

"Right," she agreed, though she really didn't. "Anyway, he seems to be over his problem about believing a teenager should be better than him."

"Was that his problem with me?" Harry had wondered about the man.

"Oh yeah," Kingsley finally spoke up. "He's harped on you and all the _fluke experiences_ you've had over the years at the office for a long time. As team leader, I also unofficially give you my thanks for what you didn't do."

A small smile finally came over Harry, "Sure, whatever you say."

"Is he a great godson or what?!" Tonks finally all but yelled to the room at large. Everyone laughed. "So you guys, show me the rest of your place. I especially want to see this pole Ron was telling me about. Oh, and I brought your brooms back too."

So the Potters showed the Aurors the rest of their apartment, and Tonks went up and down the elevator pole several times. As they went to leave, she told Harry, "Since Remus showed you how to make a Marauder's Map, you've got to show him how to make an elevator pole; I want one now." Harry laughed and agreed.

They all went back downstairs talking about how she and Remus were doing. The foyer had been cleaned up by then, though Harry and Ginny still felt a little bothered about it. Harry also wondered if he was going to start feeling paranoid about that area now that he and Ginny had been attacked twice there.

Dinner was pretty normal, though the volume of talking was somewhat subdued. Harry and Ginny got a surprise though when they felt a hand on their shoulder. Looking up, they saw Blaise Zabini behind them. He leaned down so his head was between theirs and quietly told them, "Don't worry about this afternoon. Almost the entire Slytherin house thanks you for getting rid of those two, and that's especially true for the younger ones who they beat up from time to time when Daphne and I weren't there to protect them. I don't think you have to worry about Theo Nott, he changed his tune sometime back. The only other person who'd concern you is Millicent; but she's so scared of you right now she's hiding in her room and wouldn't come to dinner. So thanks." He stood back up.

Daphne was with him and also leaned down and whispered "thanks" to them, before the two Slytherin prefects grabbed hands and walked out of the Great Hall. Not only was their act of friendship a welcome surprise, but Harry had never seen them together like that. Ginny looked at her husband and smiled while thinking perhaps some good had come out of the day after all.

"What was that about?" Ron asked from across the table.

Seeing a number of people looking at him, he quietly told his friend, "Tell you later."

The victory party in the Gryffindor tower was also a bit subdued. Still, they'd won so they had a party. By the time they left and went back through the portal to their apartment, Harry and Ginny had been glad for it; the party had lifted their hearts.

* * *

.


	32. Accomplished Goals

Version: 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

(A/N: This is also one of my favorite chapters in the story.)

* * *

**Chapter 32: Accomplished Goals**

Late April brought the last of the Quidditch games for the year. The first was Ravenclaw versus Slytherin, with Slytherin winning 310-60. It was not Ravenclaw's year for Quidditch.

In dramatic fashion, the last game of the year would decide the Quidditch Cup: Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff. Both teams were undefeated and seemed strong. Professor McGonagall was sorely tested to appear neutral.

Both teams played well, though Ron seemed to have the slightly better day between the two Keepers. Harry had seen the Golden Snitch once fairly early in the game, but it had ducked into a crowd of Chasers and had been lost. He was determined to get it next time he got a glimpse.

As the score reached 110-80 in Gryffindor's favor, Harry finally saw the Snitch again. Unfortunately for him, the Hufflepuff Seeker saw it at the same time, so they both streaked after it.

Again the Snitch headed for where the Chasers were. Both Seekers had to dodge as best they could and doggedly pursued the flittering ball. Harry had one last obstacle between him and the Snitch and it happened to be his wife. He was going to have to do a high-speed swerve around her and hope he didn't hurt her, when she suddenly just dropped straight down as if she was on their elevator pole. Harry now had a straight shot for the Snitch and the Hufflepuff Seeker didn't. That was all it took and Harry's hand ran into the Golden Snitch which he grasped and pumped high into the air to signal his catch. The Gryffindor stands went wild with their 260-80 win.

Looking below him, he saw Ginny about ten feet down easily following him and grinning like she'd just gotten married. Her feelings of joy and pride seemed only a little less than that magic day. He dropped down to join her and they kissed while flying side by side. Soon the rest of the team joined them in a mass hug as they all slowly spiraled down to the ground.

Eventually, some control was brought over the crowd and the Quidditch cup was presented to Ron as captain, who in turn gave it to Professor Cobb. Both of them were practically bouncing. The Headmistress even had a rare smile on her face as her old house had proven itself again.

When the ceremony was done, the players started to head back to the locker room to change when Professor Dumbledore stopped them. With him were three men whom they'd seen in the stands before the game had started. "Excuse me, Ron Weasley, I'd like you to meet Mr. Smith, Mr. Blackburn, and Mr. Jeffers." Ron shook hands all around. "And of course, Harry Potter," Harry also shook hands, "and our final seventh year player on the Gryffindor team, Ginny Potter." Ginny, who was somewhat surprised at being included, nevertheless also shook their hands.

"These men," Dumbledore went on after the introductions, "are scouts for the professional Quidditch teams. Between the three of them, all thirteen teams are represented."

Jeffers started out, "Mr. Weasley, congratulations on your team's victories this season. While you had very good talent available to you, you undoubtedly did a fine job of coaching along with your playing."

"Thank you, Mr. Jeffers."

"I understand you are interested in a professional career. Is that true?"

"Yes sir. That would be my first career choice."

"Excellent," Jeffers continued, and the other men nodded their agreement.

"And you, Mr. Potter?" Jeffers seemed to be the official spokesperson.

"I am also interested in a professional career. I love to fly."

"We can tell," Blackburn jumped in, though they all laughed.

Jeffers now looked at Ginny. "Mrs. Potter, I must say that you surprised us, and I will also say you've caught us off guard as we normally only start paying attention to players in their sixth year, which you skipped. We know you played last year, but I'm sorry to say, we didn't keep any notes. Strangely, there aren't many Chaser positions open this year, but there are a few. Are you interested in a professional career?"

Halfway through his mini-speech, Ginny had guessed where that was leading, but she still wasn't sure what she wanted to do. "I'm sorry, Mr. Jeffers, I really don't know what I want to do upon graduation, other than be with my husband on his job, you know at games and on trips."

Smith finally spoke up. "I wished I'd seen you play more, Mrs. Potter, to get a better feel for your talent, but even so, I believe you could have a career in professional Quidditch, if you'd like."

She still didn't know what to say. "I can't make a decision at this time, but I will think about it."

"As you wish. Here's my card just in case you change your mind; please owl me soon if you do," Smith told her. The other scouts also handed each of the teens their card.

Jeffers again took up the conversation. "We will be reporting our observations and recommendations to the teams that look to us. You will be receiving offers over the next two weeks, certainly by the middle of May. You must respond by the last day of May. Questions?"

"Yes sir," Ron spoke up. "If there is something about the offers we don't understand and need clarification on, who do we ask? One of you or the team?"

Blackburn smiled and answered. "Each offer, Mr. Weasley, will also contain one of our cards or otherwise have our name on it. In general, you'll need to contact the coach or general manager on the team as they will have worded the offer. On the other hand, if you'd like general advice on the profession and sport, feel free to contact anyone of us.

The students thanked the men, and Professor Dumbledore who had apparently been playing host to them, before they left to get cleaned up and have dinner. The victory party was sure to be lively tonight.

* * *

The following Monday morning, owls brought several large envelopes to both Ron and Harry. They tore them open to find offers from Quidditch teams. Their dream was starting to come true. Hermione and Ginny looked at each other and smiled, both thinking they'd be seeing a little less of their men over the next few days as these letters absorbed their attention.

That was actually helpful for Hermione as she needed extra time to put some finishing touches on her wedding plans. That event was to be a week after they finished school. She and Ron had made the assumption he would get at least one offer to play professional Quidditch, and that he'd need to start practice before the summer ended. So they needed to get married as early in the summer as possible.

When they needed to go to class, about the only thing the boys had completely determined was they had no offers from the same team. Both of the boys acknowledged that wasn't a requirement for the team they picked, but it would be a really nice thing to have.

Harry stuffed the envelopes in his book bag and he and Ginny went off to class. Professor Cobb greeted them. "Well, Harry, it's been a month since we've last looked at our shield project, let's see where you are in your research." Ginny pulled up a chair too; she'd been helping Harry some on this.

"Oh, before I forget," their Professor told them while Harry pulled his book out, "I heard the other day that Dawlish finally got his voice back. I'm really impressed you made it go away for a month, and that St. Mungo's couldn't fix him. He needed that," the ex-Auror chuckled.

"That is pretty funny, but I didn't cast any spells," Harry protested.

"Uh huh, right. Still, excellent job at what you didn't do and for not getting caught." Harry started to say something else but Cobb stopped him with, "Now, what do you have to show me?"

"Professor, I think I've come up with an idea I'm ready to test," he said as he opened his special project notebook to the right page. "This spell," he pointed to the diagram, "should create a shield, then basically turn it around and attach another shield to it. Even if it doesn't stop a Killing Curse, we believe it will be better than even the heavy shield spell we have now."

"Very interesting," Cobb slowly said as he looked closely at the spell. "I can see the two shield parts, but what about the connecting part in the middle?"

"That was my idea Professor," Ginny told him. "I'd seen something like it in another spell that bound multiple little spells together and thought it would work here too."

"Oh? What spell did you copy it from?"

Ginny blushed and looked down, not answering. Cobb gave her a penetrating look, so Harry rescued her. "It was from Professor Dumbledore's Amorous Monitor charm."

"You know how to do that?!" Cobb was very amazed.

"Professor Dumbledore inadvertently showed it to me during one of our classes." Harry turned to that part of his notebook and showed Cobb the unlabeled diagram. "Since we share the notebook, she found it too."

"I see," Cobb said. He also flipped a couple of pages and found another unlabeled diagram. "You've got something of a shield in this spell, though I don't recognize it. What does it do?"

"Uh, Professor Dumbledore made us promise not to share it with anyone. Perhaps you should ask him," Harry replied with a tinge of embarrassment.

"Surely you understand that he would have meant other students only and not the teachers."

"I really don't know sir, but his request was not to show it anyone."

"Hmm." Cobb looked back at the diagram. "A shield and a blinding spell ..." Suddenly he looked at Harry in surprise. "You worked out a blocking charm for the Amorous Monitor, didn't you?"

"I, uh, really can't say Professor," said Harry evasively, though he did give his professor a smile.

"Oh, excellent work, Harry, very excellent indeed. Your understanding of spells is growing if you can do that. How long did it take you do this?"

"For that spell, about sixty or seventy hours I think, part-time over two and a half months," the boy told him.

"And can I assume it works?" Cobb slyly asked.

"You may assume that spell does what I intended it to do." Harry blushed deeply as did Ginny.

"Oh ho! And you got caught testing it, and therefore had to make the promise to prevent chaos throughout the castle." Harry looked up in amazement at his teacher for working out that chain of logic so quickly, but Cobb just laughed. "Yes, Mr. and Mrs. Potter, I was also once a young man who chased young ladies while I was in school and I faced the monitor. I would have loved to have had this charm.

"Very well then, let's give it a try. My line of research isn't nearly as promising, so you get the first test. Harry, put a rock over there in the cage and turn it into an animal, and put the cage on the table. Ginny, grab those Omnioculars off the shelf and put them over there on the side so we can see both the animal and in front of the shield." Cobb conjured two rock walls, then he checked the whole setup.

"Everyone behind a wall," the teacher instructed. "Harry, cast your shield to protect the chimp you created."

Harry did so and a greenish wall came up in front of the animal. "That seems appropriate since it has to stop a green bolt of light."

"Yes, interesting coincidence. Ginny start the Omnis recording then get back behind the wall." Cobb waited. When both students were safe, the Professor stuck his hand around the wall but kept his body shielded in case the spell came bouncing back. Thinking an evil thought to drive the spell, he cast _Avada_ _Kedavra!_ They heard a loud clang and a sizzle like water on a hot skillet. He was thankful nothing rebounded to catch his hand, though he'd tried to move it anyway.

Peeking out, Cobb saw the shield was, incredibly enough, still there. Harry and Ginny now also peered out around their wall. Cobb and Harry were looking down the middle so they couldn't see the chimp because the shield was opaque, but Ginny was looking around the outside and could. "It worked!" She jumped up and spun around landing beside her husband. Grabbing him she gave him a sloppy kiss and then hugged him. Cobb just smiled as he saw that, then walked out.

Sure enough, the chimp was just fine. "OK, back behind the wall, we need another test." When they were safe, he again cast the Killing Curse and got a loud clang and sizzle, but this time the shield came down. Still, the chimp seemed to be alive. They retrieved the Omnis and watched the playback. Even for the second cast, nothing went through.

They did several more tests with the same results every time. Cobb finally sat down and looked at his prize students. "Brilliant! Brilliant work by two brilliant students." They smiled and even looked slightly embarrassed, which only got worse as he then told them, "I think we should call it the _Potter Shield._ What do you think?"

Both of the Potters looked shocked. Harry finally found his voice, "Uh, why? It was your idea."

"I can't take credit for that, a lot of people have tried to invent a shield to block the Killing Curse. I may have talked you into investigating a double-sided shield first, but I didn't come up with that idea either. And it was you two," the teacher pointed at the Potters, "who came up with the actual spell."

They didn't know what to say. Their professor smiled at them and shook their hands, "Congratulations! Full marks for the class, as soon as you two write a paper explaining your research so it can be presented. I believe this will save a lot of Auror lives." He grinned broadly at them while they stood there, still speechless. "Lunch is in an hour, so take off with my blessings. I want to see your paper in two weeks. Harry, we can do whatever you want after that, and Ginny you have NEWT study time from now on. Ah, it's a beautiful day ..." He left the classroom and his two students.

The Potters just looked at each other. "It is a nice day," Harry told her. "How about a walk outside?" She put her arm around his waist and off they went.

* * *

That evening, the foursome was revising for their Potions NEWT together in the Head common room. After a couple of hours, Ron stood up and announced, "I've got to take a break, even if it's only for fifteen minutes. Anyone want a snack?" The other three smiled at Ron's seemingly continuous need for food.

"I'll go with you," Harry volunteered.

"Hot chocolate, please," Ginny spoke up. Hermione asked for the same, so the boys went to get some and stretch their legs.

When they came back from their errand, they set the steaming mugs down. Harry turned to his friend and egged him on with, "Go ahead and ask her, it was your idea."

Both girls looked up at that, but Ron seemed to be looking at his fiancée. "Uh Hermione, if we wanted to compare a number of things that each had various good and bad points, what would be the best way to do that?"

"You mean like if you wanted to compare the offerings of a number of Quidditch teams?" she smoothly translated.

"Yeah, that would be a good example of what I'm talking about." Ron tried to play it cool. Ginny started chuckling at his getting caught red-handed, so to speak. Even Harry was having to struggle to suppress a laugh. "Hey!" Ron said to his best mate, "you thought it was a good idea too."

Hermione just shook her head in amusement, and looked at Harry. "You've seen a spreadsheet before haven't you?" She got a blank stare. "You know, on a computer?"

"Dudley only used his computer for games and for searching for pictures of naked girls, not that I was ever allowed to touch it, so I have no idea what you're talking about, Hermione," Harry told her honestly.

"What's a computer?" Ron asked.

The brunette sighed. Picking up a fresh piece of parchment and her quill, she started writing. "You list what's important to you, like salary, benefits or perks, location, practices, and so on going down the page. Then across the top, list your teams, and you can add more as more offers come in. Then we draw lines between all the items like this, and you end up with a grid. Finally, fill in each box of the grid with the right information about that attribute and the team. When you're done, comparison should be easy; you can even cross off teams you don't like when they don't compare favorably. The team left is your winner. Make sense?"

"Yeah, cool!" Harry got excited and grabbed his special project notebook and started making a grid in there, leaving the one Hermione had drawn for Ron. The boys spent the next half hour each filling their own out. "I put a row for if there was an offer for you too, did you?"

"Yep," Ron told him. "This will make it so much easier. Thanks 'Mione!" She just smiled at them and shook her head as she went back to revising.

By the end of the week, Ron had five offers, three starting positions and two reserve positions. Harry had six offers, five starting and one reserve. And to everyone's surprise, Ginny had two offers for reserve positions. However, one of hers was to a team that Harry hadn't received an offer from, and the other was for a team Harry didn't want to play for, so she turned them down.

On Wednesday of the next week as it neared mid-May, Professor McGonagall came by their place at the table during lunch. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley?" They both looked up. "A couple of gentlemen from the Pride of Portree have owled me to ask if they can come by and talk to you tomorrow afternoon. I'll give my permission if you want to talk to them." She looked at them, awaiting their answer.

They looked at each other. The Pride of Portree was one of the teams that had made offers to both of them, and truth be told, was on their short list of choices. They hadn't had any new offers since last Friday, and the deadline for offers to come was in a couple of days. Ron just stared into space, but eventually nodded. "Yes Professor, we'll talk to them," Harry told her.

"Very well, be at my office at three tomorrow." She started to walk away then stopped. "Oh and Mrs. Potter," the girl looked up at her in surprise, "they asked that you be present too if you're available." With that, she left them to finish lunch.

"Wonder why they want Ginny there?" Ron asked when he found his voice.

"That's obvious," Hermione told him as she refilled her glass. "Harry's married, so they want to influence him by influencing her in some way."

"Then why didn't they invite you?" Ron seemed a bit put out for her sake.

"Because we're not married, nor is our engagement widely known. It also wouldn't be hard to find out that Ginny's a Quidditch fanatic while I'm not. She might very well influence Harry, at least it would look that way to them." Hermione didn't seem to be bothered at all by the logic of her exclusion. Ginny just looked at Harry and shrugged; she wasn't sure what to think.

At three o'clock the next day, the three of them went to the Headmistress' office. Shortly after they arrived, two men came out of her fireplace. The first one introduced himself as Doug Donovon, owner and general manager of the team. The second introduced himself as Jackie O'Day, the head coach. After all the introductions were made, the Headmistress suggested the Head common room or Harry's living room as it was nearby.

The students led the way. Donovon and O'Day made idle chatter about it being some time since they'd been here, and that Professor McGonagall was only the Transfiguration teacher at the time. Harry led them into his and Ginny's living room; that way, if Hermione came in she could study and not be disturbed. Once there, Harry pulled out his wand and conjured a complete tea set for five, including a bowl of sugar cubes and a miniature pitcher of milk for those who wanted it.

"Wow Harry," Ron told him, "I don't think I've seen you do that one before. That's handy."

"You forgot the snacks," Ginny chastised him gently. With her wand she created a basket of scones with several small knifes and toppings for those who desired them.

"Show off," he muttered, though he smiled and sent a wave of love to her through their bond. The two men just watched the interplay between the teens with smiles of delight.

After Harry had served, he started the meeting. "Now that we have the social requirements taken care of, what would you like to talk about?"

The owner cleared his throat and began speaking. "Gentlemen, and Mrs. Potter, we'd like to talk to you about our offers, specifically what you think of them, and discuss your reactions to them. We would like you to come play for us, so we'd like to make sure you understand everything and that you're completely comfortable."

"Mr. Donovon," Ron started, "there is still another day in which to receive offers."

"That's quite true, Mr. Weasley; however, I can tell you that all the serious offers from the teams you'd actually want to play for come in the first week. Therefore, any offers you receive today or tomorrow will be from teams you'll say _no_ to anyway, if you even receive any more offers."

"I see. It is true we haven't received anything this week," Ron admitted.

Donovon smiled. "We are serious about our offers, gentlemen. Mr. Potter, do you have any questions at this time?"

"No, I don't think I do. You are on my short list of teams to consider, but I'm still not sure," Harry told them.

The owner nodded acknowledgment and he looked like he was trying to decide about something, then decided not to do it. "Well, I would like to try to influence you a little more if I might," he smiled a winning smile. "As we pointed out in our offer, we normally practice three days a week during the season. We're having a pre-season practice tomorrow and I'd like to invite you to come see how we work, meet the team, see our facilities. I'd like to think that will give you the best feel for what we have to offer, and you can get any personal questions you have answered by the other players themselves, instead of by two guys in management whose job it is to sell the team to prospective players."

Ron and Harry looked at each other. "I'm up for it," Ron finally said.

"All right," Harry agreed, "that might be useful."

"That's great," Donovon's smile somehow got bigger. "I'll make arrangements with the Headmistress to help you get there. If you'll be in her office at eight, Jackie will be by to get you." They agreed.

At this point, the coach finally seemed to want to join in the conversation, though he looked like he was slightly unsure of himself. "Mrs. Potter, Mr. Smith scouts for us and he told me he talked to you about playing too, and that you weren't sure. Have you thought about that decision any more?"

Ginny was surprised at this. "I did receive a couple of offers from teams Harry or I didn't want to play for, so no, I haven't given it much more consideration."

"Well, I'd like to try to talk you into coming tomorrow too." She looked surprised at that but the coach continued on. "To be honest, my main reason for doing so is to convince you that our team is the best place for your husband to play, but I'm sure you've already thought we'd do this. A secondary reason for me asking is that I'd like you to come have a walk-on tryout for Chaser."

She looked at the coach carefully and using her Legilimency passively, she could tell he was telling the truth. "You do? One of the scouts, it may have even been Mr. Smith, said that there were very few Chaser positions open this year."

"That is true," O'Day told her. "However, I did come to your last game and I really liked the potential I saw in you as a player. And if you plan to be at all the games and travel with your husband anyway, which you're very welcome to do, why not play for the team too?"

"Mr. O'Day," Harry spoke up, "you didn't really answer her question about open positions."

"Certainly, my apologies for getting side-tracked. It is true I have all the Chasers I need at this time. That being said, if I were to find a very good one, I would make the effort to get her on the team. To be honest again, this is actually one of the nightmares of being a coach, which is having too many good people to choose from, but then that's also why we've placed in the top three teams for the last five years."

Ron rejoined the conversation. "Yes, your placement is one of the things that helped you in our choosing."

"And we're glad you noticed that, we like a winning team." O'Day turned back to Ginny. "So what do you say, Mrs. Potter? Can I tempt you? Even if you decide not to play, at least come have some fun flying with the pros." It was obvious that the coach was trying very hard to convince Ginny.

She looked to Harry. "It can't hurt," he told her. "It's only Dumbledore's class, so no big deal there."

Ginny nodded her agreement. "Very well, I guess it can't hurt."

"Great!" O'Day told her.

"I think we've taken up enough of your time today," Donovon told them and rose; O'Day joined him. "We'll see you tomorrow then." As they all exited into the common room, Hermione, who was studying, looked up with some alarm before realizing that it was the meeting with the Quidditch team managers.

"Mr. Donovan, Mr. O'Day, this is Hermione Granger my fiancée and Head Girl," Ron introduced her proudly.

Donovon smiled and shook her hand, "Ms. Granger, a pleasure. I hope we get to see more of you along with Mr. Weasley in the future." She managed to tell them hello. "No need to trouble yourselves, we'll see ourselves out. Unfortunately, I visited the Headmaster's office a number of times when I went here, so I know right where it is. Good afternoon," the owner told them. O'Day wished them a pleasant evening.

When they were alone, Hermione looked to Ron, "So?"

"They were nice. They also invited us to a practice tomorrow, so you'll be on your own in Transfiguration," he joked with her.

"Really?" she seemed surprised.

"Yeah, come on. Let's go to dinner and I'll tell you all about it." Ron grabbed her hand and led her away.

Harry put his arm around Ginny and slowly walked her down. "So Ginny, I know you haven't decided what you want to do after we graduate, but what if you played professional Quidditch with me, as in on the same team? Does that appeal to you?"

"Actually, it does, the more I think about it. What do you think, Harry?"

"Hmm, spending time with my wife and each of us doing something we both think is fun? Plus getting paid for it? I have a hard time finding anything wrong with that," he told her with a big smile.

"Well, I know you'll become a Quidditch star, so that means people will know you everywhere you go."

"Already happens now," he admitted.

"And you'll have fans, and have to team photos, that kind of thing."

He considered that. "OK, that is a downside; but I'll tell you a bigger downside for me."

"What's that?" she asked.

"You'll have fans and everything too, since you'll be the most beautiful Quidditch player there is," he said solemnly as she started laughing at him, "and that's a lot of guys I'll have to beat up to keep you to myself."

"You have nothing to worry about Mr. Potter; I'll always be yours and no one else's."

"Good answer!" he told her and gave her a quick kiss.

* * *

The next morning, the three Quidditch players were in the Headmistress' office, where they also found Dumbledore. She'd given the OK for them to leave. O'Day showed up and gave them the location to the stadium and they Flooed there, with Dumbledore. He said he'd only stay awhile, but thought it a good idea to come initially in case they needed any help with questions. Harry thought he was showing the team the school cared about its students, which was OK with him.

O'Day gave them a quick tour around the place, ending in the locker room. There he gave them some robes and gear to put on. Finally, he handed each of them a broom case. "We'll let you borrow these for the day. Of course if decide to come play for us, you'll get to have one."

Opening the case, Ron almost fell over. It was a brand new, not even released, Firebolt III. He'd only heard about it, but the Firebolt Company had kept the specs secret so far.

"Other than the tour, the reason I wanted you to come early was to give you some time to get used to the new brooms," O'Day told them. "Grab them and come this way." He led them to the entrance to the stadium pitch. "You've got about thirty minutes until practice starts, have fun but please, no accidents." He wasn't smiling as he said the last part.

The teens mounted and took off. O'Day made his way up in the stadium trying to keep at least one eye on them as he went. When he got to the coaches area, he met Donovon. "All three of them are something to watch," the owner told the coach.

"Yes they are, even the girl. Whoever decided Weasley should have been coach this last year made a good decision I think, but he's the weakest flyer. Which of course means that Keeper really is the best place for him."

"I thought you said he was a bit inconsistent?"

"He is," O'Day confirmed, "at least until he gets his confidence. You'll see that today, rocky at first, then much better. The two Potters though, they're flyers."

"What are they doing?"

"Getting used to the new brooms, speed, turns, handling. Those two already have the original Firebolt, so they'll pick this new model up quickly. It will be interesting," the coach prophesized.

At nine, O'Day blew a whistle and the three teens came down and joined the rest of the group. Introductions were made all around. Then he had one of the Chasers sit out, they were already short a Seeker and a Keeper. "I'm putting you three on the second team so I can see how you do against the first team. But let me warn you, the difference in playing ability between the two teams is hardly worth talking about, so do your best but don't get hurt."

The mock games began. Ron missed a few easy ones but then slowly started getting better. The broom was a bit strange to him, but he did appreciate its speed. Meanwhile Ginny was being her usual speed-demon self, but more so with the new broom. She loved it. Harry was flying high and watching for the Snitch and the other Seeker. Professional Snitches went faster than the ones at his school, but he was looking forward to the challenge.

Over the next two hours, they played hard. Harry caught three of the four Snitches and barely missed the one that got away. Ginny and Ron were both getting into the rhythm of the faster play; it was a heady experience for all three of them. O'Day finally called for a break, which meant that organized play stopped, and a little pick-up game started with about half the players.

Harry came down to see how Ginny was doing. He'd only had glimpses of her during practice, he'd been so focused in trying to do well. "How's it going?" he asked.

"This is great, Harry! Would you mind if I did this with you?" she laughed.

He smiled at her. "I think that would be really great Gin, unless you think you'd get too sick of seeing me all the time."

"Never," she replied. "Besides, I've hardly seen you all day. They've kept me very busy with the Quaffle. Come on, play Chaser for a few minutes." They flew down and joined in.

"What do you think?" Donovon asked O'Day.

"Weasley will do. I can't decide whether to start him or put him on the reserve team right now, but I'm considering the starting position we offered to him. I think he can do it with some practice."

"And Potter? Though I'm not sure why I'm asking because even I can tell you're thrilled with him," the owner commented.

"When you ask me about Potter, my first instinct is to ask you which one? Of course he's phenomenal, no surprise there. But have you been watching her? She's almost as good. The instinct is there, she doesn't even think about flying, she just does it ... it's beautiful. She knows where the ball is too. The only negative I see is that she needs more arm strength, but a little time and effort can fix that. The only problem that leaves me is trying to get you to make her an offer and then deciding who to trade away."

"The offer is easy, and I thought you said that Fitch was slowing down."

"He is," the coach admitted, "he's got a good season or two left in him though. Maybe we could trade him for someone next year? Hmm, I'll have to think about that." Then he finally clued in as to what he was seeing. "Blimey! Did you just see that, Doug?"

"What? They do pick up games during breaks all the time, which seems strange they don't want to rest."

"It's in their blood," the coach explained off-handedly. "There he goes again. Damn! Potter's a good Chaser too."

"You already said you wanted to make her an offer."

"No, not her, him! I swear he just made a blind pass to her and it was perfect. There, now she just passed to him and there's now way she could have known he was there, but it went right to him so he easily caught it and swooped in for the score. If that doesn't beat all, he can do both positions." The coach was beside himself.

"You make it sound like you'd like to make him a Chaser now."

"He could do it, I bet, but then we'd be short a Seeker. I'll have to think about this for next season. Well, let's start practice back up," the coach blew his whistle.

Another hour later and they broke for lunch, which the team provided. The teens had a great time talking to the players, not only joking with them, but finding out what it's really like to be a professional player. The hour for lunch went by quickly.

"All right you lot, head back out for practice. I need to talk to our guests," O'Day announced to the team. As the tables cleared, he came over and sat down with the teens.

"Good day so far?" he asked. All three of them agreed it had been.

"Excellent, so I'm going to tell you how I see things and then you can ask me any questions you have, all right?" They all nodded. "Right. Mr. Weasley," the coach started, "you played well today after you got going. I'm not too worried about that though, you'll have plenty of time before the season starts to get warmed up in practices that start on the first of July."

"Mr. O'Day?" Ron spoke up, "I had planned to be on my honeymoon for the first half of July. Is that going to be a problem?"

"Yes and no. In the long-term, it won't matter as you have the needed potential. In the short-run, meaning the first three or four games, yes, because you won't have as much practice in as you should have. If you can move up the wedding even a week, that would be very helpful to you."

"OK, I'll talk to my fiancée and see what we can do."

"If you can't change it, don't worry about. We will work with you. The absolute worst thing that can happen is you won't get very much playing time in the first handful of games, and I don't consider that all that bad. Do you?"

"No sir, I can live with that."

"Good," the coach told him. "Mr. Potter. Do you have any scheduling problems?"

"No sir. I'm available as soon as I finish my NEWTs."

"Great. As you can tell from practice this morning, you will be our starting Seeker. Mrs. Potter? I've discussed this with Doug and have convinced him to make you an offer. He'll have it to you before the end of the day. If you take it, I'm not sure if you'll be a starting Chaser or a reserve one. In reality, that's mostly up to you."

"How so, Mr. O'Day?" she was puzzled by his statement.

"About the only thing holding you back is your upper body strength. I don't even have to ask your husband if he's been doing exercises for that; it's obvious by how he plays, just as it's obvious that you've not been doing that, or at least not nearly as much. But, with some time and effort, you can catch up. You've got six weeks before training officially begins, and then six more before season play starts. Try to work up to the point you can match your husband push-up for push-up and everything else he does and you'll have no problems. Of course, being a man, he has an advantage in upper body strength, but get as close as you can. In my opinion, which is all that matters for this decision," he smiled, "if you can get some strength quickly, you can be starting very soon after the season begins."

"Really?"

"Yes, I'm trying to be as honest with you as I can. That being said, I also need to tell you that you will have two conditions on your offer that will not appear on your husband's." That got her attention. "Like all the other female players, you are to take every precaution not to get pregnant while you are on the team. When you and your husband decide to start a family, we need to have enough notice to find a credible replacement; that's generally defined to be one year. This condition is true for all female players, you aren't being singled out for this."

"I understand."

"Second, your offer is dependent upon your husband. By that I mean that it is his choice as to whether to play or not. However, your offer is valid only if he accepts his. The reason is, I already have six good Chasers. I see potential in you I'm willing to invest in and risk the team on, but I don't want to do that if I don't get a good Seeker out of the deal to make it worthwhile to me. Does that make sense to both of you?"

"Yes sir," they chorused, which made him smile inwardly.

"Great, so unless you have any other questions, I'm going to leave the rest of the afternoon up to you. You can stay in here and talk, go out and pick out any seat in the stadium and watch practice and talk, Doug Donovon is around and he's more than willing to talk your ears off." Everyone smiled at that. "You can come back and practice, go home early, or any combination of that. I do ask that you come to Doug or I before you leave as we have a responsibility to make sure you get back; not to mention we'd like to know what you think even if it's _I'll get back to you later._ Questions for now?"

"What about other duties we might have, Mr. O'Day?" Harry asked him. "You know publicity, and other obligations."

"Oh yes, good question. You will have to do some team photos. You will have to be good citizens when you're wearing our uniform, people do look at you as the team so you have to maintain a good reputation. Mr. and Mrs. Potter, that applies to you in an extra dimension as well because you're married." They both nodded their understanding. "You will have reporters asking you questions at press conferences after games, though we'll try to help make sure they don't get out of hand. I know all three of you have seen more than your share of bad experiences, but I will do my best to make sure that doesn't come up and that the reporters ask you team and sport related questions only. I know some of the other stuff is bound to come up; I'll tell you up front, I'm sorry, but we'll do our best to help you minimize that. As far as I'm concerned, your being on the team is because of your playing ability, not because of other things you've done in the past."

He paused and when no one said anything, he rose from his chair. "Again, when you decide what you want to do, please let me know," he said before he left.

"Want to go out and watch practice?" Ron asked. The other two agreed so they went out and found seats in the bleachers.

"What do you think, Ron?" Harry asked. He already knew how he and Ginny felt.

"Nice team, nice guy." Ron looked very thoughtful. "Do you think he was completely honest with us?"

"I did a read on him the entire time," Harry admitted. "He was truthful in everything he said, though there may have been things he didn't tell us. But I agree, he seems like good guy and a good coach. Honesty goes a long way with me. We could do a whole lot worse."

"You know, I hadn't thought about my honeymoon getting in the way. I wonder what Hermione would think about cutting it short?"

"Ron, can a married guy give you some marriage advice?" Ron nodded so Harry went for it. "You only have one honeymoon and one wife. Jobs come and go throughout your life. Do the right thing for your wife and let the rest take care of itself. O'Day said he'd work with you and he meant it. Do the right thing for Hermione and you won't regret it."

"Listen to him, Ron," his sister told him, "and this is from a wife's point of view. So you don't start a few games, that may be a good thing as it will remove some of the pressure from you. Love and treat Hermione like she deserves it and you won't regret it."

"What about you, Harry? What do you think about the team and their offer?" Ron was curious.

Harry hardly hesitated in his answer. "I know this team didn't pay the best on my grid, but they were near the top. Like I said a minute ago, they seem very honest and that's worth a lot to me. I'm inclined to tell them yes."

"Ginny, you look pretty agreeable too." Ron looked at his sister for her answer.

"You know, I really hadn't planned to do this after school. Of course to be honest, I truly didn't know what I wanted to do. But I really have always loved Quidditch and they are making an effort to treat me right. I know some of that is because I'm Harry's wife, but they are also treating me like I think they'd treat everyone else. And I like that. Being paid to travel with Harry will just be a real bonus." She gave him a small chuckle.

"So should we go tell them yes?" Ron wondered.

Ginny spoke back up. "I say we go practice with them some more. That is fun and besides, I haven't even seen my offer yet," she pointed out. The three grabbed their borrowed brooms and flew around the edge of the stadium towards the coach.

"Doug, here they come," O'Day mentioned.

"Look at those faces Jackie, it's in the bag."

"If not, they're certainly leaning this way. You better go get that extra offer written up," O'Day prompted him.

"My assistant's already on it, but I will go check it out so I can have it in hand. See ya later." Donovon said as he left.

When they arrived, Harry spoke for them all. "Mr. O'Day? I think we'd all like to experience some more team play if we can."

"Fine, that's just fine ..." The coach got two full teams organized again and started them off. He was a very happy man on the inside.

Two hours later, practice ended for the day, and the team would continue to meet only on Fridays until July, when the full three practices a week would start. Donovon pulled Ginny aside and gave her the offer. She opened it and tried to scan it quickly; then she handed it to Harry for him to scan too. While they were doing that, the coach and the owner turned to Ron.

"Well, Mr. Weasley, what do you think?"

"I'm pretty happy with what I've seen today Mr. Donovon," Ron told him. "To be honest though, I'd like to talk to my fiancée before I give you a final answer, especially about the summer schedule. I think you've done everything you possibly could to convince me; and making me have to give you this great broom back does influence me, because I'd really like to keep it."

They both laughed. "Well, if you tell us yes, it will be here waiting for you. I can promise you that," Doug Donovon told him. Seeing the Potters had given the offer at quick once over, he turned to them. "Mr. and Mrs. Potter, what are your feelings on our offers?"

Harry looked to Ginny who told him to go ahead. "Mr. Donovon, like Ron, we like what we see here. You have a nice organization, with some great people. That makes your offers very tempting. We'd like to read your offer to Ginny carefully, so it will probably be Monday before we get back to you. That being said and with no promises this second, I will say that we are both inclined to accept, even if that does cause Mr. O'Day extra work in dealing with one too many Chasers."

The two team managers laughed again. "Very good, I look forward to hearing from you two next week," the owner told him. "Since Jackie picked you up this morning, I'll do some work today and take you back. I'd also like to thank the Headmistress for letting you come."

They bid the coach goodbye and left. After Flooing back to school, Doug Donovon stayed and talked with the Headmistress while the teens left. After a quick dinner, the foursome went back to the Head room and talked about the offers all evening. Harry read Ginny's offer in detail and it seemed to be everything that she was promised.

As the clock approached ten, Harry finally came to a decision. "Ron, I want to say yes, and Ginny does too. What's your answer?"

Ron looked at Hermione who just smiled at him. She knew this was his dream. "If you like it Ron, take it. You know I'm behind you whoever you play for. I'll be at every home game and as many away games as I can."

Put on the spot like that, he knew there was really only one answer to give. "I guess we'll continue to play together then." Everyone was happy; they'd send an owl with their three answers Monday morning.

* * *

.


	33. End of an Era

Version: 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

**Chapter 33: End of an Era**

As the second week in June started, so did all the exams. Hermione was in her usual panic about not having revised enough. While Ron tried to go along with it to make her feel like she had company, he really didn't care all that much as he already had a job lined up that he liked. Harry and Ginny both were more than ready, but then they had fewer tests than the other two to prepare for.

When the practical for Ginny's Defense NEWT came, like Harry, she was the last name called. Ginny also got the same surprise speech from Professor Tofty. She took the pointer from her husband and did her best to do more than they asked for on everything during the spell demonstration part. She too met and contained a Dementor. Her third room did not have a vampire, but had a complete marsh including a number of very dangerous marsh creatures in it to avoid or overcome.

To Ginny's immense surprise, her last room had a full grown troll in it! It took her several minutes to overcome it, the final blow coming as the troll lifted his club to swing at her again and she timed a banishing spell to send the club flying into the troll's head to knock it out. The story about her husband in his first year came to her as she realised what she'd done. Other than a scrape on her arm which had come when the troll had knocked her shield and her into the wall, she left the room unscathed to find Harry proudly waiting for her. He gave her a hug and promptly healed the scrape.

"Mrs. Potter, that was very well done," Professor Tofty praised her. "I believe only your husband has achieved a better score than you on the Defense practical." That caused her to smile. "You should go have dinner and rest for your History NEWT tomorrow," he told her.

At dinner, Professor McGonagall surprised them as she stopped by. "Mrs. Potter, if I may ask, where will you be studying this evening?"

"In my room Professor. Is there a problem?"

"No, no problem at all. I should like to visit with you and your husband for a few minutes, if I might. Do you mind if I drop by and pay you a short visit later this evening?"

Ginny nodded. "That's fine." Harry agreed and the Headmistress walked off.

Ron asked the obvious question, "I wonder what that's about?"

"Haven't a clue, mate," Harry told him as he returned to his dessert.

Around nine, they received the Headmistress into their apartment. Harry did the honors of conjuring a tea set for three and looked to his wife expectantly. She laughed and conjured snacks for three. Harry had finally noticed that she was laughing more and giggling less as the year had gone by. He also thought she was changing from cute and pretty to simply beautiful as she finished growing up. He was again reminded of how lucky he was to have her.

"What can we do for you, Professor?" the Head Boy asked.

"I have a couple of requests for you two, if you don't mind," she asked. Harry shrugged and indicated McGonagall should continue. "First, I understand from Andrew that you've finished your research paper and it's been accepted by the International Confederation of Wizards. I further understand that you two are in line for a medal and possibly other rewards for creating it."

"We are?" Ginny asked. She looked to her husband, but he seemed just as surprised.

"Yes, you are," she gave one of her rare smiles to them. "Since you'll have to do a presentation about it eventually, I thought it might be helpful to you to have a practice presentation, say here at Hogwarts on Friday evening as the last of the tests are completed. In addition to the normal staff, the three testing judges will still be here and could give you some valuable feedback. Would an assembly immediately after dinner work for you?"

Harry didn't know what to do or say, "I, uh, I suppose." He looked to his wife who looked just as lost.

"Thank you. Why don't you get with Andrew before then and discuss it. He's done this sort of thing before and can give you some pointers; plus he'll introduce you and help you as needed."

"All right, I think we'll have a little free time tomorrow morning," Harry finally said, still unsure about all this.

"Very good, Mr. Potter. The second item is one we talked about a little bit last year. Have you given any thought to returning to Hogwarts when you retire from your Quidditch career?"

"Honestly, not really Professor. I've had a hard enough time figuring out what I'm going to do next year," Harry explained.

"I understand, yet, now you both seem to have that well in hand. Yet another first for you two: the first husband and wife professional Quidditch players. Even though I rarely read the sports section of the Daily Prophet, even they have had nothing but good things to say about your future career and the high probability of The Pride of Portree winning next year."

"Thank you, Professor," Harry told her and Ginny echoed that.

"So Harry, would you like to come back here in ten years or so? And is there anything I can do to help persuade you? I think you'd do an excellent job of educating future generations of wizards and witches."

"I'm not so sure, Professor, but I do know that we will have children and I've never seen any professors have children here." Harry was trying to think ahead.

"Not since you've been here, but I can remember a few teachers in my past that were in that situation. There are a few of the teacher's quarters which are larger for that reason. Also, given your construction experience," McGonagall smiled at that, "I think we could make something work even if we had to combine two of the suites. Would you like to return here, Ginny? You don't have to teach, but if you wanted to, you would be more than welcome to in any of several subjects due to your marks."

"I don't know either, Professor. I was aware of your earlier discussion with Harry and I found it interesting, but I haven't given any thought to living here long term, as much as I do like the castle," Ginny said.

"Why don't you two talk about it? I'd love to see you come back and teach Defense, Harry, and for you to teach Charms, Ginny. I'll talk to you later about it, perhaps in your next off season." The professor rose. "If you need anything for your demonstration, be sure to let Andrew or myself know." With that said, she left.

"You know," Ginny said to her husband, "I never realized how much the Headmistress job had changed her."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. She so much more charming and hard to say no to now." His wife agreed with him as she got up to return to her revising.

* * *

Friday night finally arrived. Both of the Potters didn't eat much because they were so nervous. When dinner ended, the Headmistress arose and clinked her goblet twice to get everyone's attention. "Since most of you appear to be done, I'd like to start our very special demonstration of an important new spell. As I mentioned the other evening when I announced this assembly, not only is this the first public demonstration of the spell, but it is so practical, those of you who will be returning for NEWT Defense will be expected to learn it as it will be added to the standard curriculum for seventh year students. Professor Cobb?"

"Thank you, Professor McGonagall. First I'd like to call Mr. and Mrs. Potter to the stage." The two students nervously rose and went up to stand next to Professor Cobb. "And Filius, if you would set up the demonstration props for us please." The little man went around to the front of the teacher's tables and went to work.

"While we are waiting for our props, let me tell you what you are about to see. As you know, I used to be an Auror. In that line of work, I've seen just about everything. What you don't know about me is that I lost my family during the first war with Voldemort. I came home one evening to find them dead from a Death Eater attack, slain with a Killing Curse." There were gasps at Cobb's story. Harry and Ginny were merely pale as they'd only heard it for the first time earlier today while finishing the plans for the demonstration.

"That event," the ex-Auror went on, "gave me motivation to find a shield to stop that curse. For over ten years I've researched for an answer in my spare time. Like so many others, I failed to find an answer. But I shared my dream with Harry Potter, and this year, Harry and his wife Ginny joined me in my quest. While I went down one road, Harry traveled another line of research. The result is what I call _The Potter Shield_, though I must tell you Harry doesn't like that name." That got a number of laughs from the crowd.

"Over on my right, you will see a chimp that Professor Flitwick has transfigured for us. Harry?"

Harry cast his spell, whispering the incantation. When he'd finished, his greenish opaque shield was in front of the chimp.

"Behold, _Avada_ _Kedavra!_" Professor Cobb shouted unexpectedly. There were shrieks from some people as the jet of green light was hurled at the chimp, but the light merely clanged and sizzled on the green shield. "The chimp lives!" Indeed, the chimp gave a few screeches at all the noise from the people. "A fifth shield now exists and can protect Aurors everywhere. Please give the Potters a hand for their creativeness and persistence in this task."

The applause was almost deafening. Harry and Ginny felt embarrassed beyond belief, even though they knew this was coming. It was a highlight in their schooling, and they were glad they'd done the work; still, neither of them wanted to be up on the stage. As the demonstration ended, like at the welcoming feast, they received many congratulations; and it took them over an hour to leave the Great Hall. Professor Tofty had even mentioned something about another Order of Merlin.

Once back at their rooms, they found a jubilant yet absolutely furious Hermione. "Harry Potter! I can't believe you've created two major spells this year and haven't shared either of them with me. I thought you were my friend." Ron sat on the couch and not only didn't say a word, but did his best not to move or otherwise draw attention to himself. He'd never seen her this upset.

Reaching into his pocket, Harry pulled out a piece of parchment. He had known this was coming. "I'm sorry, Hermione, a number of things I've done this year were under promises of secrecy. But now that it's out, I knew you'd want this, so here," he handed the paper to her. It was a write-up of the _Potter Shield_ done in the same style as their spell books. "You can learn it and pass it on as you wish, though I personally hope you never have to use it."

That last bit slowed her down quite a bit. "Thank you, Harry. I didn't know it was secret research," she said a little contritely after her outburst.

Harry really wanted to regress back a couple of years and snap at her that most research was secret, and didn't she already expect this since she was trying to get into the Department of Mysteries? Instead, all he said was, "Now you know." As he said that, he also realized that Ginny hadn't said a word. He looked at her to find her looking up at him with a smile on her face. _Good save, Potter_. He flopped down on the other couch and pulled his wife down too.

"Was the other spell a secret too, Harry?"

He looked back at Hermione. "What other spell? We only demonstrated one new one tonight."

"I meant your blocking spell, the one that allows you to take baths together," she simply said, though she did turn just a touch pink at saying that.

"What?!" Ron cried out not able to take it. "You found a way to block the Amorous Monitors?"

Muggle movie writers were so good sometimes Harry thought. "I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you, Hermione."

She looked at him like he'd lost his mind, then she burst out laughing. "I never really liked that movie, well, except for the lead actor." Harry smiled at that, and then even bigger when he saw Ron's questioning look in trying to figure out what she was talking about.

"You'll be married in two weeks, it's not a useful spell for you," he finally told her.

"Maybe not, but the idea of doing that is intriguing. I'd like to know how you did it," she explained.

"About sixty or seventy hours of research, but it was damn well worth it." A smile slowly spread across his face. A huge blush conquered Ginny at the same time. "After your honeymoon, we'll find some spare time and I'll show you, as long as you promise to keep it secret," he bribed her.

"Done!" Hermione was completely happy again.

Harry also decided to tweak her a bit. "I've got a few books that can get you started on understanding it all. They're also the ones that helped me get better grades than you last year too in a couple of classes."

Hermione looked like she couldn't decide whether to be happy or upset at that. Three snickers filled the room at her expression.

* * *

The term and the school year ended. Everyone found and packed their things, and trunks were stacked to be taken to the train, except for the older students who shrunk theirs down and put the tiny trunks into their pockets.

As the Potters were about to leave, the Headmistress came by. After she made sure they were done, she transfigured the door to their extra rooms into a big stone block. "Until the next Head Boy or Head Girl that is married, there's no need to cause problems with favoritism," she explained. Harry could see the wisdom in that.

While they started off in the cabin with all the prefects, the Potters didn't stay there long. They headed down the train to say goodbye to all their friends. Neville and Luna were no longer dating, but they were still friends. Dean and Lavender were now engaged, which gave Harry some mental amusement over what would have been if he hadn't gotten his act together and asked Ginny out two years ago, and therefore she had gone out with Dean. He and Ginny wouldn't have bonded on Platform 9 ¾ and who knows what else would have been different. It was even possible Voldemort would still be alive and Harry now dead - all because of a few small choices.

They also had a nice talk with Blaise and Daphne, who were still an item, though not engaged. Blaise even promised to stay in touch with the occasional owl.

It was a happy and yet a sad train ride.

As the train pulled up to Platform 9 ¾ at King's Cross, a shimmering cat came through the air into the train and went into Harry. Ginny looked at him in alarm, and grew even more worried when she felt his panic and strong desire to run away. "What's wrong, Harry?" Only about half the prefects were in the cabin, but they all looked at the couple.

"Dumbledore," he spoke quickly, "he's had a heart attack. Is your trunk in your pocket?" She nodded, so he roughly pulled her to him and grabbed her around the waist. They Disapparated out with only a faint crack.

Ron looked at Hermione, "We should go too."

"We will Ron, but we need to tell our family out there first so they don't worry. Your Mum and Tonks would kill us if we disappeared without telling them." She grabbed his hand and they ran outside as quickly as they could.

When the Potters Apparated to the front porch of their home, Ginny was confused. "Why are we here, Harry?"

He had already grabbed her hand and started running into their house, ignoring Dobby who was asking the same question. "It's the fastest way, assuming McGonagall is thinking," he told her. "Follow me," he grabbed a handful of Floo powder and threw it into the fireplace. "Hospital at Hogwarts," he clearly said as he stepped in. He went spinning around and came out in Madam Pomfrey's office. Apparently, the Headmistress had thought ahead and cleared him for that fireplace.

Harry barely slowed down as he come out of the fireplace. He ran through the office and into the patient area. It was obvious where to go because most of the staff was around one bed. He continued to run until he got there, and surprised everyone because of the silencing spell on his boots.

It wasn't until he saw all the bowed heads that he realized the saddest music he'd ever heard was playing. Listening a bit closer, he also realized it had the quality of phoenix song. Looking at the bed, he saw Fawkes looking down over Dumbledore's body on the bed and singing. The bird looked up and launched himself into the air. Fawkes circled Harry twice as the bird finished his song, then left in a burst of light.

That was too much for him and Harry started sobbing, quietly and softly at first, then harder. A pair of hands grabbed his shoulders and turned him to his right; then a hand pulled his head down to a shoulder and stroked his head and his back. It was some time before he realized Ginny was holding him, and that she was crying with him.

When his initial grief had spent itself, he looked up to see the entire staff had wet faces; and that Ron, Hermione, Tonks, and Molly Weasley was behind him too, also with tear-stained cheeks.

Professor McGonagall finally came over to him, but it was with a shaky voice that she spoke. "Harry, he tried to hang on. He wanted to talk to you very badly. He said..." She had to stop for a few moments before she could go on. "He said that he loved you and wanted you to have his book." She pointed to a thick oversized book next to the old man's bed. "He really wanted to give it to you himself. When he realized the end was here, his last words were: _Give this to Harry and tell him not to get into too much mischief_."

She picked it up and handed it to the young man. "I don't know what it is," she told him. "It has no title and it won't open."

Harry passed his hand over it and spoke, "_Revelare!_" The left half of the front cover briefly changed and they saw:

_Dumbl  
Boo  
Spe_

and then it went blank again after a second. But why only the left half Harry wondered? Then it hit him, it was going to take both he and Ginny to open it. He wondered if that meant Dumbledore had figured out their secret - again.

"I wonder why only half of the book title showed?" McGonagall wondered, echoing his initial thought.

Harry knew he needed privacy if what he suspected was true. He hated to do this, but he was going to have the stretch the truth very thin. "I'm not sure, Professor. I guess it must take either a different spell or multiple spells. I'm afraid I'll have to work it out later, I'm not thinking very clearly right now."

"Of course, Mr. Potter. I'm very sorry to ask at all right now. I'm not thinking well either." McGonagall patted him on the shoulder. "If I might make a suggestion, why don't you and Mrs. Potter take your family and friends back to your old rooms. The common room and your living room will still be as it was. Rest there for awhile until you're ready to go home. I'll even have the house-elves bring some refreshments to you. And take this too," she handed him a phoenix feather, "it was at your feet; a gift from Fawkes I believe."

He hadn't seen the feather fall at the time. "Thank you, Professor." He took the feather and clutched the big book to his chest as Ginny steered and walked him back to their rooms. Their friends and family came with them.

Back in what seemed like home, they sat together talking and crying some more. A short time later Dobby and Winky, who also looked sad, brought them some pumpkin juice and various finger foods. A little while after that, Arthur Weasley came in and joined them.

It took awhile, but eventually Arthur convinced everyone to go to the Headmistress's office and Floo to The Burrow. Harry didn't want to go, and Ginny didn't want to force him. With Harry still clutching the big book and the feather, never having put them down, the couple Flooed back to Potter Manor. It took her over an hour, but Ginny finally got Harry to put the gifts down. Taking him to bed so he'd be more comfortable, she held him close as he fell asleep.

Harry brooded the entire next day. He hadn't cried, but he was barely going through the motions of living. Mostly, he held the end of the feather as he stared at the book from Dumbledore. Late in the afternoon, they got word the funeral would be tomorrow at four on the Hogwarts grounds.

Putting on their best formal robes the next afternoon, the Potters Apparated to the gates of Hogwarts, like so very many other people who'd come to pay tribute to the famous wizard. When McGonagall saw him, she came over and quietly asked him if he'd say a few words during the ceremony. Though he had no idea what he would say, Harry agreed anyway.

When the ceremony started, Minerva McGonagall started it by listing Albus Dumbledore's many accomplishments and awards for and at the school. She then turned it over to Minister for Magic Amelia Bones, who also praised him for many things he'd done for the Wizarding world. Finally Harry was introduced; he slowly got up, but instead of walking immediately to the podium, he held out his hand and helped Ginny to her feet and escorted her up with him.

"Many wonderful things have been said about Albus Dumbledore," Harry started. "They are all true to the best of my knowledge. But what they don't really show is the real reason why he was considered the Greatest Wizard of Our Age. To understand that, you needed to know the man. He wasn't a person who would give you the shirt off his back; he was one who would conjure the shirt and a cloak too. He was one who led by example, never asking more of others than he was willing to give himself. He was also a man who knew how to say he was sorry when he made a mistake. His ability to reach out to everyone he met, as well as to offer second chances was unparalleled. There also always seemed to be a twinkle in his eye and a piece of candy nearby to make you feel better. These and many other qualities, not mere accomplishments, are what motivated people around him to do better than their best, because we loved him." Harry wasn't sure what to say beyond that, so he decided just to stop there. Now he was glad he'd brought Ginny up with him, he was so drained it was hard to walk back to his seat. In fact, he hardly even remembered the rest of the service.

At the end of the funeral, McGonagall came over to him and through her tears told him, "Thank you Harry, I'm glad you focused on the real Albus." She sniffled and walked back into the castle. The Potters eventually got up and left for home. Miraculously, most of the crowd left them alone for their slow walk to the Apparation point at the gates.

Being very careful to avoid Splinching, Harry Apparated them home. Barely in the door, Dumbledore's last words via the Headmistress came to him, "Don't get into too much mischief." Inspired by his sudden thought, he all but dragged a mystified Ginny with him into the library. She felt his depression lifting and wondered why.

"Get out your wand Ginny," he told her. "On three, speak the phrase that opens the Marauder's Map. One - Two - Three ..." They both touched their wands to the book and together said, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

The book cover glowed for a second, then the silver title appeared in the middle of the book and stayed readable:

_Dumbledore's  
Book of  
Spells_

Reverently, Harry reached down and tried to lift the cover again. This time, it easily opened for him. On the inside front cover was a note in the old wizard's known loopy handwriting. They both read it.

_Dear Harry and Ginny,_

_I hope I got to talk to you before I left for my next great adventure. If not, I want you to know that I love both of you dearly. While I feel I couldn't say it while you were still at the school, I do want you to know that I thought of both of you as my children; and I can honestly say you were my best pupils in all my years as a teacher. Not only have your accomplishments so far been great, but the persons you have become have made me proud._

_Since you are reading this, you've figured out that it is keyed to the both of you, and only the two of you; no one else will ever be able to open it. I've never told anyone, nor written it down anywhere else but here, but I've kept your life bond a secret. While I don't know what caused it, nor what it means to you beyond your power sharing and from my observation the amplification of your feelings for one another, I know that you will use it for the good of the world, beyond your victory over Voldemort. There is great love in both of your hearts. Love and heal the world as best you can. I think you two can be the catalyst that causes all magical creatures to live in trust and peace; I've seen the evidence in how you treat Dobby and Winky. Someday, maybe that can even be extended to Muggles as well._

_In this book, you will find all my special and private spells. Use them wisely, and even occasionally for fun. Find a good person, or maybe a good person for each of you, and teach them the depths of magic. When the time is right, create your own book like this and pass the knowledge on._

_To the greatest wizarding couple of the age...  
Fondly, Albus Dumbledore_

Harry closed the book and took his wife in his arms. It would be awhile before he felt truly normal again, but in the meantime, he had Ginny and her love to help him. Deep down, he also knew he had the love of his Dad and Mum, Sirius, and Albus.

He also started to wonder what Dumbledore had envisioned for them to do, but as Dobby came up to him and put his little hand on Harry's leg in a show of love and respect, Harry suddenly felt he had a good idea.

* * *

(A/N: One chapter left.)


	34. Epilogue

Version: 1.0 (2006); 1.1 (2012)

**Chapter 34: Epilogue**

Ron and Hermione married on the fourth of July. Dumbledore's death created a small problem, as they had planned for him to marry them as well. To their great surprise, Minister for Magic Amelia Bones, having heard of the problem from Ron's father, volunteered to fill in. While she was not Dumbledore, Ron still felt pretty special as the Minister for Magic rarely officiated at weddings.

Harry was best man for Ron and Ginny was matron of honor for Hermione, though Hermione made them promise not to lose themselves in each other's thoughts on stage. It was a promise they found hard to keep, but somehow they managed to do so.

After they were joined together in matrimony, Ron and Hermione Apparated to the London International Apparation Point to begin their journey to the Canary Islands. They had decided to accept Harry's gift of a secluded honeymoon.

By the time Ron and Hermione returned so he could start practice with The Pride of Portree, Harry and Ginny were feeling pretty good about their career choice. Ginny had had two months to work on her physical conditioning and Coach O'Day was thrilled with her better performance. The Potters used much of their extra time though to help Ron catch up from missing two weeks of practice.

By the third game of the season, both Ron and Ginny were on the starting team too. The team was 2-0 for the season and all the season tickets were already sold out. Everyone from Doug Donovon on down was happy.

* * *

Two years later, Harry and Ginny Flooed into the office of the Headmistress of Hogwarts. "Harry, Ginny, I'm so glad to see you, and my, the photos don't do the two of you justice," Minerva told them.

Harry knew he'd matured a little bit since he'd left school, but he thought the time had done more to Ginny. The physical exercise of playing the sport had given her a more solid look, which he found even more attractive and she had matured beautifully into the nineteen year old woman she was now. She seemed to get more beautiful to him every day.

Ginny caught his feelings and smiled at him. "Thank you ma'am, but you did invite us," she pointed out.

"True, true. Have a seat and some tea." McGonagall took them to her little sitting area. "I hope everything is going well for you two, and what I read in the Daily Prophet seems to indicate that it is."

Harry smiled. "For once the newspaper is right."

"Well, I thank you for coming by to see me. As international Quidditch stars, I'm sure you both are very busy."

"I _suppose_ playing on the English team in the Quidditch World cup does make us that," Harry acknowledged. Harry had been starting Seeker and Ginny had been a reserve Chaser, though she had played in the games only a little bit. That Harry had caught the winning Snitch in the finals just made it all that much better for them. Or impossible might have been a better description as they now had to actively disguise themselves when they went out in public.

McGonagall continued to be her charming self, as she continued to speak. "I also hear you're helping out Hermione at the Department of Mysteries in your off time."

It was all Harry could do not to let a change come over his face at hearing that. _How did she hear about stuff like that? It was supposed to be super secret,_ he thought. Fortunately, Ginny was up to answering. "I wouldn't know about that," she plainly said.

"You know how rumors are," the Headmistress said without missing a beat. "Though if it were true, I suppose that would be useful for keeping one's spell skills fresh and readily available."

"I suppose," Ginny continued. "Hermione does tell us that her job does keep her on her toes spell-wise, not to mention that she loves it so much."

"Well, I'm glad for that, and I hope you're keeping your wands from getting dusty. I do want you two to come back here. In fact, Filius was telling me just the other day how much he missed teaching you two."

"Thank you, Professor," Harry told her.

"You may call me Minerva now that you've graduated."

Inclining his head Harry tried again. "Thank you, Minerva. We do miss the special classes. Speaking of which, how are they going?"

"Very well, Harry. It was a brilliant idea and has been going well. We had four students in the program last year and I expect six this coming year." Harry nodded as he thought about that. "Tell me Harry, have you had any more great ideas about Hogwarts lately?"

He smiled at her. He'd known this was coming when the owl brought the invitation to him. "No, Minerva, I'm afraid I haven't given it much thought at all. Between Ginny, work, personal research, and working with the Potter Foundation for Orphans, I haven't had much time to consider schools. Though I suppose that will change when children come along."

"I'm sure it will, Harry. So is a family in the near future for you two?" Though the question was addressed to both of them, she looked at Ginny in particular.

"Not at this time," the red headed woman answered. "I'm enjoying my career and we have plenty of time. I would really like to play as a starter in the World Cup. Assuming I do that next time, then I'll think seriously about children."

"When you do, we will have a place for them." McGonagall turned on the charm again. "And you know that children and grandchildren of Professors can come for free don't you? Not a problem for you two, but still a nice benefit, don't you think?"

Harry laughed. "You don't stop trying, do you Minerva?"

"No, Harry, and it would be a crime for me if I do. I suppose everything seems so normal to you, Harry, but you have a natural gift for both teaching and understanding situations. Finding those two talents together is unusual. To find them in someone with a good heart is even rarer and is what would make you such a good Headmaster. While I'm not ready to step down just yet, the position is yours for the asking anytime you want it, Harry. The Board will have no second thoughts about hiring you."

"She is right about you, you know," his wife added, "about your character I mean. I still don't know about living here, but I do understand what she's talking about. After all, I married you for the wonderful person you are."

Harry only shook his head in amazement. "I think that will have to do until your next attempt, Minerva." The Headmistress only smiled at him. "Is Professor Flitwick here today?"

"Yes he should be in his quarters. Do go by and see him. I know he'd be delighted to see you. Andrew is not here or I'd suggest you say hello to him as well. You can use my Floo to return when you wish. The password is _Bagpipes_." The couple thanked her and went to see their old Charms professor who was so dear to them.

* * *

It was spring and Ginny had just finished her sixth season for The Pride of Portree. She walked into Doug Donovon's office; she hadn't needed an appointment, he had an open door policy for all of his players.

"Doug, we need to talk."

"Ginny, come in and have a seat. And before you start in on me again, I'm sorry, but I just can't make the family box any bigger. Even magic has its limitations sometimes," the owner told her.

"Relax, Doug, that's not what I'm here to talk about. Though if it will help you sleep better, we've just bought the box from the family next to us and we're planning on combining them for the extended Potter/Weasley clan."

"Oh, all right. So what did you want to talk about? There are no faster brooms than your Firebolt VII."

She laughed, "You know me so well, don't you? No, since I know you're about to start considering who to make offers to from the schools and otherwise start all the inter-team trading, I'm here to give you notice. We're ready to start a family."

Doug looked at the athletic Ginny Potter, international Quidditch star having just made a starting position on this year's English World Cup team, his number one scoring Chaser, and one of his biggest draws for fans. She was every guy's dream: she was beautiful and she loved Quidditch. "Come on, Ginny, you can't do this to me. Think of the team!"

"I am thinking of the team. That's why I'm telling you now. Look for a good replacement at the schools, trade where you have to. I'd really prefer this past season to be my last one and I'll retire after we finish the World Cup games this summer. If you can show me that you tried your absolute hardest to find a replacement and couldn't, I'll play next year too, but that would definitely be it."

She could see the calculating look on his face and didn't need her Legilimency to know what was going through his mind. "Doug, I mean it when I tell you that you really have to try and I _will know_ if you haven't. Please remember that I'm one of the ones that turned Voldemort into a ball of chalk."

He looked at her intently. "You mean that little gray bit in Harry's paperweight at your house really is a piece of Voldemort's soul?"

"Yep, that's all that left. Harry Vanished the rest. And yes, the wand next to it in the display was Voldemort's too. You also shouldn't forget that the other half of the team that killed Voldemort also wants a family, though he'll continue his job with you."

"Well, that's very nice to hear," the owner responded. "You know, it's too bad you two and your expertise weren't around a couple of years ago when they found those two dead Death Eaters at the stadium."

"You mean the ones with their heads cut off?"

Donovon grimaced as he hadn't wanted to think about the details. "Yeah - those."

"Why do you think they were here at the stadium? And just who do you think took care of them since they were found dead, not killed in a fight with security? Come on ..."

"What? You mean they were after you two?"

"Right in one, Doug. Sometimes old grudges take a long time to die, though those two didn't. It wasn't fair actually, Harry got them both with a single powerful cutting spell and didn't leave me anything to do," she almost seemed to pout.

An image of a bloodthirsty woman briefly flicked through Donovon's mind; he'd never thought of her as an Auror type of person. "You two killed them? Why didn't you say something? They never determined who did it."

"No need, the deed was done and Harry thought you didn't need the publicity of two of your star players mixed up in something like that. Nor did we want the scrutiny of the press, even if the whole thing was in self-defense. They attacked and we reacted - decisively."

"I see. I do appreciate your thinking that through and do agree with you. It'll be our little secret. I suppose I'm just so amazed to find this out and to see this other side to you two after knowing you for six years."

"Oh come on, Doug." Ginny sounded amazed at his denseness. "You know we play a game that can get us killed in the worst of accidents and has already put each of us in the hospital several times over our career. You know we killed Voldemort while we were still teenagers and at least the highlights of most of our other encounters with Voldemort and his Death Eaters have been in the papers. No, you can't meet most of the Death Eaters I've run into because they're thankfully dead. In fact, I don't think we've walked away from a live Death Eater since I was fifteen, and that was only because the teachers were there and I couldn't get away with making them disappear. If all that doesn't paint a picture of two people who live life on the edge and who get mixed up in the rougher side of life at times, then who or what do you think we are?" She paused but he didn't say anything as he was still trying to absorb it all.

"Now, I will admit that trying to start a family will make us a little more like the average couple. We'll stop focusing on the times for fun for just the two of us and we'll start focusing on raising children. But we are who we are because of the choices we've made. Now, I'll see you in a few months on the 19th of May at our first team pre-season practice, which I hope will be my last. Please try to find a new Chaser. You don't want to lie to me, Doug." She laughed at his sour expression as she got up and left.

Doug swallowed hard as he considered what used to be a rather quiet girl of seventeen who had been merely an aggressive flyer, and was now a self-assured woman of almost twenty-three and a no-holds barred flyer. He had never lied to any of his players, and he sure wasn't going to start now - especially after hearing about the couple's exploits. He got up from his desk and went to find O'Day. The coach was not going to be thrilled to hear this news, though they both knew it was bound to happen some day. He wondered if he could talk her into an office job dealing with PR where her famous name could still help the team.

* * *

Ginny had just turned thirty last week. She'd also just given birth to her fifth child a few hours earlier. She was nursing him now while she and Harry were discussing a name for him. They'd had a boy who looked just like Harry, twin girls that looked much like her - which thrilled her mum, another boy that looked a lot like Harry, and finally this little boy that had red hair and she guessed would look a lot like one of her brothers as he seemed to take after the Weasley side.

She wasn't completely sure if this was their final child or not, but five children in seven years seem like enough to her. Then she looked over at Harry and saw him just watching her and totally ignoring the new baby. Those green eyes of his mesmerized her as they always had. Though she couldn't have what she really wanted, she wanted him anyway. He smiled and ran his hand over the side of her face pulling back a stray lock of her long red hair and put it behind her ear. She knew she had to look like a mess, but Harry didn't look like he cared. She loved him so.

* * *

Harry Apparated to the gates of Hogwarts. He could have Flooed to the Headmistress' office, but it was a nice spring day and he wanted to enjoy the walk on the grounds. The giant squid was still there, sunning the tips of his tentacles today. In the distance he could see an older Madam Hooch working on advanced flying lessons with some firsties.

As he came in through the front door, he was met with the sounds of many students. Knowing it was lunch time, he headed for the Great Hall. He was a bit early, but lunch at Hogwarts sounded good for some reason, and he knew he wouldn't be denied.

Walking through the double doors of the Great Hall, he started to get a few stares. By the time he was halfway to the teacher's table, every eye in the room was on him and the talking had changed to whispers. He wasn't in disguise and his face was known by everyone in the Wizarding World who didn't live under a rock, and many of those knew him too. A smiling McGonagall was waiting for him at the head table. "May I join you for lunch, Headmistress?" he politely asked.

"Anytime, Harry. Andrew is running late today, so why don't you sit here next to me. I'm sure he'll understand." Harry smiled since he knew she wanted him to take Andrew's place full time. Chicken was on the menu for today; he enjoyed it and the pleasant conversation of the teachers there asking him how he was doing.

After lunch, he and McGonagall slowly walked to her office. In the corridor on the fifth floor, they rounded a corner just in time to see what looked like a sixth year Slytherin about to pound a third year Ravenclaw. Without even thinking, Harry soundlessly and wandlessly flicked his hand and a shield materialized between the two. The bigger boy punched the shield before he realized what had happened, crying out he clutched at his hand. The little Ravenclaw looked up to see what teacher had saved him when he saw Harry Potter smiling down at him.

"I'm glad to see you haven't lost your reflexes, Harry," the Headmistress told him. "Run along to class, Mr. Cooper, I shall deal with Mr. Timberlake." The third year just nodded his thanks and literally ran away. She could only imagine the story that would be circulating by the end of the day about how he'd been saved from certain death by the famous Harry Potter.

"Mr. Timberlake, I think ten detentions and the loss of fifty points will be a start for your behavior. If I find out that you've done this a third time, I doubt you will finish your schooling here. Am I clear?!" She fixed the boy with her sternest stare which almost caused him to wilt as he nodded. "Very well then, go see the nurse about your hand and let that be another lesson to you." The boy walked to the hospital as quickly as he could.

In her office, she offered Harry some tea before they sat down. "Well Harry, if I've counted correctly, you've just finished your fourteenth season, and according to what I read in the papers, unless someone is completely daft, you'll make the English World Cup team for the fourth time this year. Are you still enjoying playing professional Quidditch?"

He chuckled at her usual tactic of coming straight to the point. "I am, though I'll tell you something else if you can keep a secret," he told her conspiratorially.

"Oh, I love secrets," she told him with a smile. She was hoping it was the answer she'd been waiting for.

"This will be my last World Cup series, and in fact, the World Cup games will be the last time to play professionally. You'll see it in the papers soon."

"Really? Well that's going to give you a lot of free time, Harry. What do you plan to do with it? If you lack ideas, I'm sure I could help out."

Harry laughed. "Minerva, one thing I've liked about you is your straightforwardness, even when you're trying not to be." She only smiled at him as she knew he meant it as a compliment. "Actually, I was glad to get your invitation for a chat when our season ended. Ginny was telling me how quiet the house is with only five children and that maybe we needed another six or seven hundred more to liven things up a bit."

McGonagall was about to burst with joy on the inside. "Well, now, I'll have to send her something as a thank you for telling you that."

"Letting us send them all here for a weekend would make her happier," he told her with a smile.

Now she laughed. "That could be arranged and would be a small price to pay to get you here, Harry."

"With two great house-elves, she really doesn't have it that bad. So exactly what did you have in mind Minerva?"

"Andrew is ready to retire, and has been for a couple of years, so I'd like you to take his place as teacher, Head of Gryffindor, and Deputy Headmaster. I have Charms filled for the moment, though the teacher who took Filius' place after his death probably won't be here for more than a couple of years. Still, I can easily find a position for Ginny if she'd like. For example, Madam Hooch is finding it harder to keep up with teaching flying. That would be a spot with a small time requirement and almost no planning."

"I see. You seem to have this all worked out for us."

"Oh yes. I've even managed to get our largest teacher suite vacant with a small one beside it. Your children and main living quarters could be in the big one, while your and Ginny's bedroom and private study areas could be in the small one. All we need to do is put a door between them. Dobby and Winky along with their children would be welcome too." Minerva looked at him to see what he thought about her plans.

"Wow, you have worked it all out. Well, that's the immediate future; what were your plans for later, as you've never bothered concealing I should be in the golden chair one day," he asked.

She was reeling him in, she thought. "Oh, I'm thinking about three or maybe four years. I'd like to finish up a thing or two before I leave. That should also give you time to get fully versed in all that's going on here, though I should warn you that I'll let you pretty much run the school my last year to complete your training. Dumbledore did that for me the last few months of his last year. My only regret was that he didn't do it for a longer period, but I don't think he realized the extent of his health problems until late in the year."

Harry nodded. "Very well, I'll talk with Ginny and see what she says."

"That's fine Harry. In fact, why don't you bring the family back in a week and a half. The second round of Quidditch games will start then and Gryffindor is looking good this year. They'll be playing Slytherin. You two could come root them on, I'm sure the team would enjoy the boost of having you two there to cheer for them. I'm also quite sure I can find a few seventh year girls who'd love to watch your children for you," she told him slyly.

He laughed, "Oh you're good Minerva. All right, we'll see you Saturday after next."

"With a good answer for me?"

"I'll only promise to have an answer."

"Good enough, Harry," she told him as he got up to Floo home.

* * *

"Harry, you're about to finish your third year as Deputy Headmaster so I suspect you have good feel for the students that are there now. But tell us why you think your new programs are the right thing to do?" Blaise Zabini, the newest member of the Hogwarts Board of Governors, looked at him steadily, though Harry could tell his former classmate supported him.

"Blaise, members of the Board," Harry was doing his best to look sincere as he addressed them. "I believe my new more career-oriented classes will be helpful to the students who are not research oriented to be more prepared for a job. I've talked with a number of employers in the Wizarding World over the last six months and they all tell me the same thing, many times using the same exact words. A Hogwarts education is considered to be an outstanding achievement, but for many of our students, there are a number of spells and other bits of magic they have to learn on the job. The employers would like us to help them, and I think we can. By the time the students reach the seventh year, they should have an idea of what they'd like to do, and these optional courses can help them. Please note, they will not replace the normal curriculum, they are a supplement in the same way our advanced courses are a supplement."

"I believe the advanced courses, which you spearheaded while still a student, would be considered a success by all," Blaise pointed out. There were murmurs of agreement all around the table. "I wished I'd had the opportunity while I was there. Mr. Chairman? I'd like to make a motion. I'd like to propose that Professor Potter be promoted to Headmaster at the end of this term; and secondly, that all of his proposals be allowed to go forward. I like his vision for the school and the students." The motion was seconded.

"All in favor?" The room was filled with "Ayes"; "Opposed?" there were none. "Very well, congratulations on your new position, Professor Potter. We look forward to seeing your fine work for many years to come," the head of the Board told him.

"Thank you, Chairman Graham. I look forward to serving the students and the Board. I hope everyone has a good evening and a safe trip home." Harry left the room, but as they were in the castle, he didn't have to go far to find his present home.

In his quarters he found Minerva talking with Ginny. As he walked through the door, the two women looked up at him expectedly. "So Ginny, how do you think the kids will react to having their dad be the Headmaster?"

She smoothly got up and gave him a hug for congratulations. "Actually, probably a lot better than if you'd been one of their teachers." He laughed.

"Congratulations, Harry," Minerva nodded to him. "Of course, there was never any doubt in my mind. You have basically been running the school all year long anyway and your proposals for the new classes are well thought out and needed."

"Thank you, especially for your recommendation. It should be very interesting next year as all the changes go into effect," he said. "The most unusual change is that it seems strange to think of myself as the Headmaster of Hogwarts." As he was about to go on, a light flashed in front of him then he heard the flapping of wings and finally a weight settled on his shoulder.

Harry somehow knew who it was even before he looked up at the bird. "Fawkes?" he asked to be sure. The phoenix leaned down and nipped his ear - hard. Somehow he managed not to cry out, then suddenly it was better, and wet. Understanding came to Harry that the bird had bonded to him, healing the wound that was given.

He looked at the bird, who looked back at him, and Harry heard a voice in his head, "_Now that you are Headmaster, I will be with you. I have never had a friend with two hearts, but both you and your mate are true._" Harry looked at Ginny and saw a look of astonishment come over her; she'd heard Fawkes too.

McGonagall was simply amazed. "That's incredible! Did you call him, Harry?" Minerva asked.

"No," he softly said, "you can't call a phoenix before bonding, he is your friend or he is not." Then Ginny was even more astonished when Fawkes then jumped and gave one flap of his wings and was on Ginny's shoulder, where he repeated the bonding. No one said a thing for several minutes, during which time Ginny just gazed at the bird and lightly stroked his head. Fawkes didn't say anything else to them at the moment.

McGonagall seemed to shudder at the event she'd just witnessed. Finally she took a deep breath and tried to get back on track. "You know Harry, I think your idea for replacing Binns is both good and sad. I didn't have the heart to do it, but you are correct that the students do need to learn the material and the ghost just isn't up to it."

"I understand Minerva. I suppose it's not as hard on me because I didn't know him when he was alive, but I do know I slept through most of his classes and that's a shame, really."

"I fully agree," Ginny added. "If it were up to me, I'd change it even more and stop teaching History and have everyone do Pensieve lessons for it. That way they'd get the material but wouldn't have to waste the time on it."

"Really? I honestly disagree, Ginny," her husband told her. "Part of the benefit of those classes should be to discuss the events in context as well as how they apply to today, or at least that's what I want the new teacher to do. You can't do interaction like that in Pensieve lessons."

"That is a point," she acknowledged. "Still, I think I'll just stick to Charms; my classes are much more straightforward. Either my students can do the work or they can't."

"You've already charmed me, what else is there for you to do?" he flirted with her.

Minerva started laughing. "Oh you two ... I think I'll go and let you two lovebirds discuss this in your own way. I need to start cleaning out my desk; I've only got three months to do it." As she left, Fawkes hopped and glided to the back of the chair McGonagall had vacated.

When they were alone, Harry growled, "Come here, Professor Potter."

"Now, now, Professor Potter, behave yourself," though she got up anyway and went towards him.

"That's Headmaster Potter to you, woman."

"Well, is that all I am now, just a woman?" she asked coyly as she settled herself onto his lap and into his arms.

She was a few pounds heavier than before their children, but he still thought she was the most beautiful woman in his life. Of course, giving him a family of five wonderful children made her just that much more special. "You know you're the love of my life, Gin."

"For now and forever, Harry ..." she told him as she wrapped her arms around his neck and started kissing him. Again, their love for each other flowed back and forth through their bond, growing in their oneness like so many times before. Only now, there seemed to be a hauntingly beautiful song in the background of their mind.

{end}

* * *

_{ A/N 2006: I want to give a big thank you to Padfoot1981, who started as my beta editor. When we had technical problems, cwarbeck was kind enough to step up and take over helping me get the rest of the story out. So a big thank you to Cel too. I could not have done as well, and the story certainly would not have come out nearly as good, without these two wonderful gals. You two made me look so much better than I am!_

I hope everyone enjoyed reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it. That's all to this series, though I have some other stories you can check out. :-)

If you have questions or constructive criticism, please post a comment and I'll do my best to answer. I'm not a professional writer, I only write fiction for fun, so I know I can always learn something. - kb.}

_{ A/N 2013: That was my first story and I hope no one cringed too hard, other than me. :) Due to some difficult times in my personal life lately, don't expect to see any new stories from me before June at the earliest - unless something pops up in my "Odds and Ends". Editing has been easy despite having no time to write. Now that life is becoming normal again and I'm finding some time to write, I'm sure new stories will pop out eventually. You can watch my bio for a status or set an author alert. }_


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